Photo by George

The Commons

Help us catalog the world’s public photo archives.

The Commons Help us catalog the world’s public photo archives.

Welcome!

The key goal of The Commons is to share hidden treasures from the world's public photography archives.

Please help make the photographs you enjoy more discoverable by adding tags and leaving comments. Your contributions and knowledge make these photos even richer*

A random sprinkling of our participating institutions...

  • George Eastman House
  • The Finnish Museum of Photography
  • The Library of Congress
  • Huron County Museum & Historic Gaol
  • The Graduate Institute, Geneva
  • The Royal Library, Denmark
  • Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library Archives
  • Vestfoldmuseene | Vestfold Museums
  • Galt Museum & Archives on The Commons
  • The Field Museum Library
  • National Museum of Denmark
  • National Galleries of Scotland Commons
  • Cornell University Library
  • Bergen Public Library
  • Archives of the Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle
  • Fylkesarkivet i Sogn og Fjordane
  • Faculty of Music, Trinity Laban
  • Netherlands Institute of Military History
  • National Library of Ireland on The Commons
  • SALTOnline
  • Fotoarkivet NTM
  • The National Archives UK
  • Local History & Archives, Hamilton Public Library
  • California Historical Society Digital Collection
  • DC Public Library Commons
  • Regionaal Archief Alkmaar (Public Domain)
  • UW Digital Collections
  • Royal Australian Historical Society
  • Nationaal Archief
  • LSE Library
  • National Library of Australia Commons
  • Library Company of Philadelphia
  • Musée McCord Museum
  • State Library and Archives of Florida
  • Stockholm Transport Museum Commons

A Commons Sampler

Carter Buton Album Loan_00094
Carter Buton Album Loan_00094
from San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives

Carter Buton Album Loan_00067
Carter Buton Album Loan_00067
from San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives

Carter Buton Album Loan_00058
Carter Buton Album Loan_00058
from San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives

Carter Buton Album Loan_00138
Carter Buton Album Loan_00138
from San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives

Carter Buton Album Loan_00114
Carter Buton Album Loan_00114
from San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives

Carter Buton Album Loan_00064
Carter Buton Album Loan_00064
from San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives

Carter Buton Album Loan_00057
Carter Buton Album Loan_00057
from San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives

Carter Buton Album Loan_00109
Carter Buton Album Loan_00109
from San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives

Carter Buton Album Loan_00093
Carter Buton Album Loan_00093
from San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives

More about The Commons

A new way to share photos on Flickr

The Commons was launched on January 16 2008, when we released our pilot project in partnership with The Library of Congress. Both Flickr and the Library were overwhelmed by the positive response to the project! Thank you!

The program has two main objectives:

  1. To increase access to publicly-held photography collections, and
  2. To provide a way for the general public to contribute information and knowledge. (Then watch what happens when they do!)

FAQ

I work for a cultural heritage institution that would like to be a part of The Commons. How do we do that?

Please let us know you're interested by registering here. It helps a lot if you let us know some background about your institution, and direct us to any online photo collections you already have.

How can I get involved?

We've already seen fantastic contribution from the Flickr membership. Your tags and conversations about the content in The Commons has been wonderful! The best way to get involved is to add a tag or two to the photos you see, and if you happen to know anything else about the subject, by all means add a comment.

What's "no known copyright restrictions?"

This new rights statement is being contained to the institutions participating in The Commons, at the account level. It is a requirement for participation in the program that institutions may rightly claim "no known copyright restrictions" on the content they share. More information.

*Any Flickr member is able to add tags or comment on these collections. If you're a dork about it, shame on you. This is for the good of humanity, dude!!