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...

  • Powerhouse Museum Collection
  • DC Public Library Commons
  • National Archives of Estonia
  • NASA on The Commons
  • The British Library
  • Costică Acsinte Archive
  • National Museum of Denmark
  • LSE Library
  • State Library and Archives of Florida
  • Ljósmyndasafn Reykjavíkur / Reykjavík Museum of
  • UBC Library Digitization Centre
  • Camden Public Library (Maine)
  • Nova Scotia Archives
  • bibliothequedetoulouse
  • Law Society of Upper Canada Archives
  • UVicLibraries
  • Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland
  • Het Nieuwe Instituut - Architecture Collection
  • IWM Collections
  • Archives of the Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle
  • Keene and Cheshire County (NH) Historical Photos
  • The Library of Congress
  • VCU Libraries Commons
  • Huron County Museum & Historic Gaol
  • Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office Commons
  • Netherlands Institute of Military History
  • CDHS
  • Cornell University Library
  • SALTOnline
  • Royal Australian Historical Society
  • Provincial Archives of Alberta
  • Biblioteca de Arte-Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian
  • National Library of Norway
  • National Library of Ireland on The Commons
  • State Library of Queensland, Australia

A Commons Sampler

Image taken from page 489 of 'The Popular History of England'
Image taken from page 489 of 'The Popular History of England'
from The British Library

Image taken from page 74 of 'New York City and vicinity during the war of 1812-15. Being a military, civic and financial local history of that period, with ... anecdotes thereof, etc'
Image taken from page 74 of 'New York City and vicinity during the...
from The British Library

Image taken from page 278 of '[The Land of the Broads ... Illustrated edition.]'
Image taken from page 278 of '[The Land of the Broads ......
from The British Library

Image taken from page 181 of 'Algemeene Geschiedenis der wereld van de Schepping tot op den tegenwoordigen tijd (oorspronkelijk en naar de beste bronnen bewerkt door M. S. Polak), etc. Deel. 1-7'
Image taken from page 181 of 'Algemeene Geschiedenis der wereld van...
from The British Library

Image taken from page 75 of 'Statistique générale topographique, industrielle, historique ... et biographique du Département de la Gironde'
Image taken from page 75 of 'Statistique générale topographique,...
from The British Library

Image taken from page 283 of 'Cassell's Illustrated History of the Russo-Turkish War, etc'
Image taken from page 283 of 'Cassell's Illustrated History of the...
from The British Library

Image taken from page 293 of 'The Earth and its Inhabitants. The European section of the Universal Geography by E. Reclus. Edited by E. G. Ravenstein. Illustrated by ... engravings and maps'
Image taken from page 293 of 'The Earth and its Inhabitants. The...
from The British Library

Image taken from page 222 of 'A Scarlet Sin. [A novel.]'
Image taken from page 222 of 'A Scarlet Sin. [A novel.]'
from The British Library

Image taken from page 97 of 'Nidderdale: and the vale of the Nidd ... Illustrated, etc'
Image taken from page 97 of 'Nidderdale: and the vale of the Nidd...
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!!