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...

  • The British Library
  • IWM Collections
  • bibliothequedetoulouse
  • Museum of Hartlepool
  • Cornell University Library
  • National Archives of Estonia
  • Deseronto Archives
  • Fylkesarkivet i Sogn og Fjordane
  • Gallen-Kallelan Museo
  • DC Public Library Commons
  • Vancouver Public Library Historical Photographs
  • State Library of New South Wales collection
  • The Field Museum Library
  • Australian War Memorial collection
  • Stockholm Transport Museum Commons
  • Congregation of Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada
  • San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives
  • George Eastman House
  • Law Society of Upper Canada Archives
  • Nova Scotia Archives
  • Ljósmyndasafn Reykjavíkur / Reykjavík Museum of
  • Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office Commons
  • Faculty of Music, Trinity Laban
  • Musée McCord Museum
  • Getty Research Institute
  • Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library Archives
  • Bergen Public Library
  • Huron County Museum & Historic Gaol
  • National Media Museum
  • The National Archives UK
  • Regionaal Archief Alkmaar (Public Domain)
  • OSU Special Collections & Archives : Commons
  • Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
  • Costică Acsinte Archive
  • SMU Central University Libraries

A Commons Sampler

Fokker PW-7
Fokker PW-7
from San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives

Vought SB2U-3 Vindicator US Navy Photo
Vought SB2U-3 Vindicator US Navy Photo
from San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives

Junkers K30  Nowarra photo
Junkers K30 Nowarra photo
from San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives

Berliner-Joyce OJ-2 1936
Berliner-Joyce OJ-2 1936
from San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives

Piction
Piction
from San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives

Vought SBU Corsair
Vought SBU Corsair
from San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives

Shuttleworth 1972 Air Portraits Worcestershire UK
Shuttleworth 1972 Air Portraits Worcestershire UK
from San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives

Heinkel
Heinkel
from San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives

Vought X8B2U-3
Vought X8B2U-3
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!!