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*

Participating Institutions

FAQ

Rights Statement

A random sprinkling of our participating institutions...

  • IWM Collections
  • Miami U. Libraries - Digital Collections
  • UBC Library Digitization Centre
  • National Media Museum
  • DC Public Library Commons
  • Vancouver Public Library Historical Photographs
  • Swedish National Heritage Board
  • Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland
  • UL Digital Library
  • Faculty of Music, Trinity Laban
  • The Gallen-Kallela Museum
  • Stockholm Transport Museum Commons
  • Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest
  • Regionaal Archief Alkmaar Commons
  • SALTOnline
  • Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office Commons
  • Museum of Hartlepool
  • Université de Caen Normandie
  • California Historical Society Digital Collection
  • SMU Central University Libraries
  • State Library of New South Wales collection
  • Local History & Archives, Hamilton Public Library
  • New York Public Library
  • National Library of Medicine - History of Medicine
  • National Galleries of Scotland Commons
  • Texas State Archives
  • Deseronto Archives
  • The Field Museum Library
  • National Library NZ on The Commons
  • Law Society of Upper Canada Archives
  • Center for Jewish History, NYC
  • The National Archives UK
  • Provincial Archives of Alberta
  • Aalto University Library and Archive Commons
  • The Library of Virginia

A Commons Sampler

Wright Flyer Test Flights at Fort Myer, VA
Wright Flyer Test Flights at Fort Myer, VA
from NASA on The Commons

Image taken from page 378 of 'The Illustrated History of England ... Comprising also a summary of the history of the nations of Europe ... With ... engravings ... Edited by H. W. D'
Image taken from page 378 of 'The Illustrated History of England...
from The British Library

Image taken from page 260 of 'Songs of Praise and Poems of Devotion in the Christian Centuries. With an introduction by H. Coppée ... Elegantly illustrated with sixty steel engravings, etc. F.P'
Image taken from page 260 of 'Songs of Praise and Poems of Devotion...
from The British Library

Image taken from page 506 of 'Essai historique sur la Baronnie de Pujols en Agenais'
Image taken from page 506 of 'Essai historique sur la Baronnie de...
from The British Library

Image taken from page 46 of 'Lancashire: its history, legends, and manufactures'
Image taken from page 46 of 'Lancashire: its history, legends, and...
from The British Library

Image taken from page 413 of 'In the Days of the Canada Company: the story of the settlement of the Huron tract and a view of the social life of the period, 1825-1850 ... With an introduction by G. M. Grant'
Image taken from page 413 of 'In the Days of the Canada Company:...
from The British Library

Image taken from page 27 of 'Congo et Belgique, à propos de l'Exposition d'Anvers'
Image taken from page 27 of 'Congo et Belgique, à propos de...
from The British Library

Image taken from page 13 of 'Histoire populaire du règne de Léopold 1er, Roi des Belges'
Image taken from page 13 of 'Histoire populaire du règne de...
from The British Library

Image taken from page 637 of 'Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan, performed in the years 1852, 1853 and 1854, under the command of Commodore M. C. Perry ... by order of the Government of the United States. Comp
Image taken from page 637 of 'Narrative of the Expedition of an...
from The British Library

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!!