Blog

From Desiderata to READMEs: The case for a C.A.R.E.-full Data Lifeboat Pt. I

The first of a two-part blog post detailing the origins and approaches to ethical archiving in the Data Lifeboat tool.

Progress Report: The Data Lifeboat viewer, circa 2024

See what you get when you download a prototype Data Lifeboat.

A Phoenix in Paris: Data Lifeboats for User-Generated Histories

The case for citizen-driven collections in enhancing our understanding of contemporary events.

Progress Report: Creating a Data Lifeboat circa 2024

Check out our prototype workflow for creating a Data Lifeboat.

The Best Little Museum Shop is here

Take a look at our new online store, and get yourself a treat to support the Flickr Foundation

Our Data Lifeboat workshops are complete

Now we are working out what just happened, and here's an outline.

Flickr Commons is growing again!

Read George's update on how our revitalization strategy is progressing…

Developing a New Research Method, Part 2: Introduction to Archivevoice

Follow Prakash Krishnan's progress, with guidance on archival basics, and this new methodology.

“Flickr.com is a Gathering of Memory”

Read highlights from the Flickr Foundation's First Conversation, and access the full transcript.

Flickr Foundation at iPres 2024

Find out what Tori and Alex learnt when they visited Ghent.

Welcome, Joshua!

The Foundation's first designer comes on board!

Meet Joshua

Marcelle Ferns with nose guard and sun glasses, 1941

Field Notes #01: Lughnasadh

Lead Researcher, Tori, pins down her methodology for the upcoming Safe Harbor Network design workshops with institutional users

Welcome, Fattori!

We have a new Lead Researcher in the team, joining us to enhance our approach to our Data Lifeboat initiative.

Meet Tori

Happy World Photography Day!

How far we've come since that first view of the rooftops in France…

Look!

Making some marvelous maps

We’ve added maps to our Commons Explorer, which is a fun new way to find photos.

Developing a New Research Method, Part 1

Where research fellow, Prakash Krishnan, positions archival images as a medium for creative interpretation.

Find out how

Working with snapshots of structured data on Wikimedia Commons

Some techniques for working with metadata that describes more than 100 million files.

An AI generated image, two similar black and white photos side by side, women on a road with palm trees.

The Ghost Stays in the Picture, Part 3: The Power of the Image

The final installment from Eryk Salvaggio as part of his fellowship researching generated imagery and Flickr.

The Ghost Stays in the Picture, Part 2: Data Casts Shadows

Second of three installments from Eryk Salvaggio as part of his research on generated imagery and Flickr.

Improving millions of files on Wikimedia Commons with Flickypedia Backfillr Bot

Our new bot improves metadata for Flickr photos on Wikimedia Commons, and makes it easier to find out which photos have been copied across.

Data Lifeboat Update 5: Prototypes and policy

More questions than answers, and that's a good thing.

Read on

The surprising utility of a Flickr URL parser

We’ve made a library that knows how to read lots of different forms of Flickr.com URL.

Huzzah! New grant from the Mellon Foundation

We're thrilled to join the fold of organizations connected with and supported by the Mellon Foundation.

Find out more

The Ghost Stays in the Picture, Part 1

First of three installments from Eryk Salvaggio as part of his research on generated imagery and Flickr.

Read on

On the way to 100 years of Flickr

A report on archival strategies by Ashley Kelleher Skjøtt.

Read the report

Welcome, Prakash!

Prakash Krishnan (he/him) is an artist-researcher and cultural worker, and joins us on a research fellowship in 2024.

Meet Prakash

Introducing Eliza Gregory

One of the Flickr Foundation's research partners, based in California.

Meet Eliza

A bookshelf holds a small collection of art, tech and theory books. On top of the shelf is a coffee pot and mugs.

A glimpse inside HQ

On being a research fellow

Jenn reflects on her six months working with the Flickr Foundation crew.

Read all about it

The architecture of a Data Lifeboat service

What are the different systems and pieces involved in creating a Data Lifeboat?

How does the Commons Explorer work?

Let’s dive under the hood and find out how the new Commons Explorer works.

Data Lifeboat Update 3: Legal stuff, workflow, and a day out.

Learning about physical lifeboat design, starting legal framework with C.A.R.E.

New! Flickr Commons Explorer

Browse around the wonderful Flickr Commons collection all in one place!

African American men and women posed for portrait on steps at Atlanta University, Georgia

Repurposing and Remixing Archival Images

Looking closer at a passing piece of pop culture.

A woman engineer connects flight deck control wires

Data Lifeboat: Deeper research into the challenge of archiving social media objects

Digital photography is worth collecting…but how?

Welcome, Eryk!

AI researcher and new media artist, Eryk Salvaggio joins as our first research fellow for 2024.

Meet Eryk

Data Lifeboat Update 2: More questions than answers

Sketches of software, the labyrinth of licensing, and the selection of standards.

color photograph of a black woman in a print dress holding a book looking up at the photographer

Black History Through Archival Images 2

More stories of carefully curated Flickr albums that tell us stories about Black history in the US.

a smiling young Black woman with short hair wears a welding visor pushed back in her head and welding gloves

Black History Through Archival Images

Many carefully curated Flickr albums tell us stories about Black history in the US.

Introducing Flickypedia, our first tool

Come and meet our first tool, Flickypedia!

Data Lifeboat: NEH Grant Update 1

Our Data Lifeboat project has begun! Meet the crew, and the many, many questions…

Welcome, Susan!

Our fundraising department is born!

Meet Susan

Our 2024 plan

Learn about our intentions for our projects, pipeline, and people for 2024

Black and white photograph featuring a white woman blowing out candles on a birthday cake. She is surrounded by another seated woman and a man, standing behind her. On the photo is handwritten 'Nov 22-45' and 'Celebrating Marge's birthday'.

Sixteen years of Flickr Commons

An unidentified girl is seen in a goat cart

Reopening the doors to Flickr Commons

Just A Cool Bell Two men standing by a bell which is significantly larger than either one of them, in a jungle setting

The longest kayak journey in the world two people carrying very large baskets on their head walking along a beach

3. The Longest Kayak Journey in the World

The UK's UFO Desk hand drawn illustration of a spaceship

2. The UK’s UFO Desk

Three women sitting on Fionn Mac Cumhaill's (Finn Mac Cool) Wishing Chair at the Giant's Causeway, Co. Antrim. They're selling tourist trinkets and books containing views of the locality. The woman on the left is barefoot.

1. Classic Photo, Modern Rock

White woman lies on a bed, wearing glasses designed for reading in bed. She is resting a book on her torso.

Research diary: long-term thinking and lots of reading

Welcome, Jenn!

We're proud to welcome the Foundation's first Research Fellow!

Navy corpsmen on a boat looking at a hospital ship

Interview: Navy Medicine on Flickr Commons

Read more about how Navy Medicine uses their Flickr Commons account.

Read the interview

Two photographs of women, side by side in a photo album. There is a ghostly face behind the women in each image

Flickr Commons: Grand Galleries, Admired Albums

Flickr's Albums and Galleries are a great way to find shareable content and curate Flickr Commons massive trove of freely reusable images

Learn how it works

Tommy Dodgen, a four year old boy, stands by the largest lamp in the world: Tampa, Florida

Florida Memory on Flickr Commons

How the State Library & Archives of Florida chooses which unique, fascinating, and quirky images to put on Flickr Commons.

Read the interview

Screenshot of flinumeratr. It's a web app with a single input field at the top, into which somebody has entered a Flickr URL. Below the input form is a purple box explaining that this URL shows the photos in a gallery about celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, and then two photos from the gallery.

Introducing flinumeratr, our first toy

The team is growing

Welcome, Alex!

Our first Tech Lead started this week, and there's already a very first public repo on Github.

Hooray!

A man standing on top of some dissassembled furniture inside a warehouse full of such furtniture

Sorting a millions-of-things pile

We've decided to create a Collection Development Policy for Flickr Commons.

Read the backstory

engraving image from a book showing a number of devices used in bloodletting.

Is a photo of a drawing a drawing or a photo?

Image classification is an old problem.

See how to do it on Flickr

When past meets predictive

Working ‘field notes’ as a snapshot in time facing computed image generation.

Read up on the research interview

Our reflections about Image Generators

“What would happen if we used AI image generators to recreate The Family of Man?”

Lots to consider

Exploring Generated Imagery

Using the 1955 MoMA exhibition, The Family of Man, as our inspiration, we've created an exploration and time capsule to represent the state of generative AI today.

Explore the creation process

British Library & Flickr Commons

Learn about some great examples of community contributions to the British Library's Flickr Commons account

Read on

"A Generated Family of Man"

Hear a progress report from Juwon on her development of a synthetic "The Family of Man" collection.

Read on

A woman operating a drill as she assembles part of an airplane

Flickypedia: Our Partnership with Wikimedia Commons

Extending and expanding the Flickr2Commons tool in partnership with the Wikimedia Foundation.

Find out more

R&D

Who is The Family of Man?

Visualizing data of a 1955 exhibition

Maya Osaka reports on her findings about The Family of Man

Find out more

A Flickr of Humanity: First project in the New Curators program

Behind the scenes of creating V2 of A Flickr of Humanity.

The team is growing…

Welcome, Jessamyn!

Flickr Commons gets a new Community Manager

Find out more

Notes from the 100-year plan workshop in Edinburgh

Why are we doing this?

Hear from Ben MacAskill about why SmugMug + Flickr decided to create the Flickr Foundation.

Find out more

Introducing the new flickr.org

Take a tour of the work we've done to establish flickr.org.

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From Desiderata to READMEs: The case for a C.A.R.E.-full Data Lifeboat Pt. I

Progress Report: The Data Lifeboat viewer, circa 2024

A Phoenix in Paris: Data Lifeboats for User-Generated Histories

Progress Report: Creating a Data Lifeboat circa 2024

The Best Little Museum Shop is here

Our Data Lifeboat workshops are complete

Flickr Commons is growing again!

Developing a New Research Method, Part 2: Introduction to Archivevoice

“Flickr.com is a Gathering of Memory”

Flickr Foundation at iPres 2024

Welcome, Joshua!

Field Notes #01: Lughnasadh

Welcome, Fattori!

Happy World Photography Day!

Making some marvelous maps

Developing a New Research Method, Part 1

Working with snapshots of structured data on Wikimedia Commons

The Ghost Stays in the Picture, Part 3: The Power of the Image

The Ghost Stays in the Picture, Part 2: Data Casts Shadows

Improving millions of files on Wikimedia Commons with Flickypedia Backfillr Bot

Data Lifeboat Update 5: Prototypes and policy

The surprising utility of a Flickr URL parser

Huzzah! New grant from the Mellon Foundation

The Ghost Stays in the Picture, Part 1

On the way to 100 years of Flickr

Welcome, Prakash!

Introducing Eliza Gregory

On being a research fellow

The architecture of a Data Lifeboat service

How does the Commons Explorer work?

Data Lifeboat Update 3: Legal stuff, workflow, and a day out.

New! Flickr Commons Explorer

Repurposing and Remixing Archival Images

Data Lifeboat: Deeper research into the challenge of archiving social media objects

Welcome, Eryk!

Data Lifeboat Update 2: More questions than answers

Black History Through Archival Images 2

Black History Through Archival Images

Introducing Flickypedia, our first tool

Data Lifeboat: NEH Grant Update 1

Welcome, Susan!

Our 2024 plan

Sixteen years of Flickr Commons

Reopening the doors to Flickr Commons

16. Just A Cool Bell

15. Cat Pictures, Mostly

14. Celebrity Surprises

13. Knowledge in Motion – Book Transportation

12. Name That Aviatrix – Assembling Knowledge From Many Sources

11. Showcasing Changes Over Time

10. Careful Curation for Serendipitous Discovery

9. Increasing Access to Fragile Materials

8. Meeting the photographers

7. Who Are Those People? Or pets? Or things?

6. The Historical Boundaries of Washington D.C.

5. Decorated War Pigeons

4. Homegrown Outback Exploration

3. The Longest Kayak Journey in the World

2. The UK’s UFO Desk

1. Classic Photo, Modern Rock

Research diary: long-term thinking and lots of reading

Welcome, Jenn!

Interview: Navy Medicine on Flickr Commons

Flickr Commons: Grand Galleries, Admired Albums

Florida Memory on Flickr Commons

Introducing flinumeratr, our first toy

Welcome, Alex!

Sorting a millions-of-things pile

Is a photo of a drawing a drawing or a photo?

When past meets predictive

Our reflections about Image Generators

Exploring Generated Imagery

British Library & Flickr Commons

"A Generated Family of Man"

Flickypedia: Our Partnership with Wikimedia Commons

Visualizing data of a 1955 exhibition

A Flickr of Humanity: First project in the New Curators program

Welcome, Jessamyn!

Notes from the 100-year plan workshop in Edinburgh