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...

  • Camden Public Library (Maine)
  • UBC Library Digitization Centre
  • Texas State Archives
  • The National Archives UK
  • The Library of Congress
  • NASA on The Commons
  • Biblioteca de Arte-Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian
  • Provincial Archives of Alberta
  • Galt Museum & Archives on The Commons
  • IWM Collections
  • UW Digital Collections
  • State Library of Queensland, Australia
  • Bergen Public Library
  • Directorate General of Press and Information
  • State Records NSW
  • The Library of Virginia
  • Keene and Cheshire County (NH) Historical Photos
  • Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums
  • National Library of Australia Commons
  • UA Archives | Upper Arlington History
  • Library Company of Philadelphia
  • Faculty of Music, Trinity Laban
  • Law Society of Upper Canada Archives
  • George Eastman House
  • Internet Archive Book Images
  • Fotoarkivet NTM
  • Aalto University Library and Archive Commons
  • Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library Archives
  • Mennonite Church USA Archives
  • SALTOnline
  • Senado Federal do Brasil
  • Miami U. Libraries - Digital Collections
  • The Graduate Institute, Geneva
  • Australian National Maritime Museum on The Commons
  • Swedish National Heritage Board

A Commons Sampler

Image taken from page 67 of 'The Purcell Papers. [Tales, in prose.] ... With a memoir by A. P. Graves'
Image taken from page 67 of 'The Purcell Papers. [Tales, in prose.]...
from The British Library

Florence Lainhart mowing the lawn - West Palm Beach
Florence Lainhart mowing the lawn - West Palm Beach
from State Library and Archives of Florida

Image taken from page 43 of 'An Account of Palmyra and Zenobia, with travels and adventures in Bashan and the desert ... With eighty illustrations and thirty-two full-page engravings'
Image taken from page 43 of 'An Account of Palmyra and Zenobia,...
from The British Library

ICG Depot, Collins, Miss. 1975
ICG Depot, Collins, Miss. 1975
from Mississippi Department of Archives and History

Launch of the passenger ship 'Northern Star'
Launch of the passenger ship 'Northern Star'
from Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums

Image taken from page 93 of 'Là-Bas [i.e. in Germany] et ailleurs. Préface de Jacques St.-Cère. Dessins de Caran d'Ache, etc'
Image taken from page 93 of 'Là-Bas [i.e. in Germany] et ailleurs....
from The British Library

Image taken from page 148 of 'What Mr. Darwin saw in his Voyage round The World in the Ship “Beagle.” [Compiled and adapted from “Journal of Researches into the Geology and Natural History of the Various Countries visited by H.M.S. Beagle, etc.”]'
Image taken from page 148 of 'What Mr. Darwin saw in his Voyage...
from The British Library

Image taken from page 55 of 'The Eastern Counties Railway Illustrated Guide'
Image taken from page 55 of 'The Eastern Counties Railway...
from The British Library

Image taken from page 6 of 'Round and about Old England ... Illustrated'
Image taken from page 6 of 'Round and about Old England ......
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!!