Fred H. Kiser
Lava fields of Wizard Island, Circa 1915-1920
Oregon State University Archives: P217:set 065 017

We celebrate the 1st anniversary of Oregon State University Archives this weekend! OSU still holds the celebrated spot of being the only university participating in The Commons (but there’s more to come in the year ahead). With a little over 270,000 views on all of their photos, they have much to cheer about!

As both part of their Commonsversary celebration and the 2010 Winter Olympics, they’ve uploaded a new set of images, OSU Olympians. Pictured here is OSU athlete Dick Fosbury winning the 1968 Olympic high jump in Mexico City (and setting a record at the time!).

Dick Fosbury

A mainstay of the OSU’s Commons material is from the the Gerald W. Williams Collection, consisting of the collected historical photographs, personal papers, and research library of Gerald “Jerry” Williams, former national historian for the U.S. Forest Service. There is a treasure trove of Pacific Northwest images in this collection; these are an important record of the history of the state of Oregon.

Gerald W. Williams Collection

One of the newest sets in this collection, in time for their 1st birthday on The Commons, contains a wealth of trains and railroad photographs. Workers, logs, trains, bridges – oh my! If you’re near their campus on Monday, Feb. 15, 2010, drop by to see all they have to offer from the Commons, in the lobby of the Valley Library; It’ll be on the big jumbo screen Smartboard for a day-long slideshow!

Railroads & Trains

One of the earliest and most popular sets of photos OSU Archives uploaded to The Commons is that of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Created by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as a part of the New Deal during the 1930s, the CCC was responsible for building much of the infrastructure of the Pacific Northwest. Enrollees fought fires on the Tillamook Burns, helped build ski areas on Mt Hood, built telephone and electrical wires, and improved farm lands.

Civilian Conservation Corps

More great photos of infrastructure being built is found in the Celilo Falls set. The images of this dam being built on the Columbia River are thrilling.

Celilo Falls

My absolute favorite collection of theirs is Take a Trip: traveling and touring with the Visual Instruction Lantern Slides Collection. There’s so much great material here, from historical and iconic images of great rails like the Shasta and Sunset Routes to images of the The Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition. Their sets on Oregon industry are a great look back to how we worked and lived in the 20th Century while Early Settlement of Oregon takes you back to centuries prior.

Take a Trip!

And no matter what time of the year you drop into the OSU on the Commons, you’ll find something timely, in their Through the Seasons set. Here’s to another happy winter … spring, summer, and fall!

Through the Seasons

Today, we celebrate The State Library and Archives of Florida’s first anniversary in the Flickr Commons.
The State Archives of Florida houses the archives of the Florida State government. It collects and preserves historically significant records of the state as well as photographs, films, and other important documents that support the official state records. Additionally, it provides access to the archives, for research purposes.

The images – both photographs and film clips – included in the Flickr Commons are part of the Florida Memory Project. This project provides Internet access to primary records of important events in Florida’s history, as well as educational resources for students of all ages. Please enjoy with us some highlights of the collection on Flickr …

Florida’s history has been marked by hurricanes. The images in this set date from 1896 to 2005, showing the devastation, tragedy, and triumphs of spirit the state has experienced after enduring so many storms. Hurricane Ivan was the strongest hurricane of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. It made landfall on the U.S. mainland in Gulf Shores, Alabama on September 16, as a Category 3.

Waves hit Navarre Pier hard during Hurricane Ivan’s approach: Navarre Beach, Florida

The Florida Folklife Collection is comprised of a selection of images that represents the work of the Florida Folklife Program. The program, consisting of 88 individual series, documents the performances by, interviews with, and fieldwork surveys of folk musicians, artisans, storytellers, folklife interpreters, and other Florida peoples and their traditions.

Members of Carver School dancing at the 1959 Florida Folk Festival: White Springs, Florida

Happy Commonsversary, Florida!

The State Library of Queensland, Australia, joined the Commons – appropriately — on Australia Day 2009, and it’s bookending photographs today might span only 1912 (uploaded today) to 1916 (uploaded just over one year ago), both its uploads and its participation in the Commons have been much broader.

Since the winter, in June 2009, the Library has added its Picture of the Week from the Picture Queensland home page to the Commons.

French journalist Henri Gilbert, Barcaldine, April 1900

There’s no surprise, I think, that the Library’s Bathing Beauties set is especially popular!

Beach beauties, ca. 1939

In December, the Library treated us all to its own rendition of the Twelve Days of Christmas.

Seven swans a’ swimming (lead swan and a chorus of cygnets)

But the State Library of Queensland perhaps deserves our greatest affection for its set of Moustaches — contributed to the Commons not only in recognition of the cult following of Great Mustaches of the LOC, but in honour of Movember, the annual prostate-cancer awareness and fundraising movement that began in Australia. And while we hope that Movember may someday become unnecessary, we look forward to enjoying many more with the Library in the meantime.

W. Elliot

A happy first year in the Commons to the National Library of New Zealand, who joined The Commons on Flickr on November 27, 2008. Since then, we’ve learned just how active in new ways of reaching out to users through technology the NLNZ is, with exciting projects like DigitalNZ. And check the magnifier on their front-page announcement about their December move – we users like some fun as well as a chance to contributte!

But here at Indicommons, our heart is with the NLNZ on Flickr, and here are some of the ways …

Panoramas

House and grounds of R H Edie, Edievale, Otago, between 1923-1928

Stereographs!

Photographer and assistant, with a camera, between 1902-1922

Celebration of the end of a war

New Zealand soldiers and civilians in London at the end of World War I, 1918

Views of Antarctica

Photographer: Herbert Ponting

… and all the people and places of New Zealand.

Wairoa Geyser, Whakarewarewa, 1908

Robert Louis Stevenson’s birthday party, at Vailima, ca 1893

Huge sunfish thrown up on beach at Awatuna, near Hokitika, ca 1910

Close-up view of a Port Chalmers wharf and ships loading, 1870s

We celebrate the first anniversary of the Musée McCord on The Commons at Flickr today! With over 200,000 views on their 290 photographs, we cheer on their mission of outreach and engagement. The museum has been a vibrant Canadian presence, with images of architecture, family portraits, landscapes, and cityscapes, along with snow, hockey, and lumber.

A sampling of their images so far — to be viewed with or without a side of poutine, as you see fit (and BTW: yes, there’s a whole Flickr group dedicated to images of poutine):

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Their most popular image is this dramatic train wreck, from the set “Views of Canada – Vues du Canada (1858-1935) “

Collision between two engines, Bay of Quinte Railway, ON, 1892

Many of the images in this set, as well as the museum’s collection as a whole, are from William Notman’s Montreal. He and his sons documented Canadian life and people from 1856 to 1936.

Views of Canada – Vues du Canada (1858-1935)

In 1956, McGill University purchased the historic collection of the William Notman & Son studio, housing it in the McCord Museum of Canadian History, forming the Notman Photographic Archives.

Views of Montreal – Vues de Montréal (1863-1925)

There is hockey!

Being Irish O’Quebec – Irlandais O’Québec

Views as long as the day …

View from Signal Hill, St. John’s, NL, about 1900

And truly remarkable images of Canada’s First Peoples.

Royal Tour: Aboriginal women and children, Vancouver, BC, 1901

Cheers to you, Musée McCord — may your 2nd year be as fulfilling in The Commons as your first!

Rustico Beach, PE, 1916 (?)

One year ago, on 29 September 2008, the State Library of New South Wales entered The Commons on Flickr!

The State Library of New South Wales’ major subject strengths are Australian history, culture and literature, including Aboriginal studies, Antarctic exploration, family history and genealogy, business and management, social sciences, applied science, biography, health and law.

It’s more than fitting to start the celebration with the Library’s very own Happy Birthday set, featuring the amazing photography of Sam Hood.

Happy Birthday

They opened their collection with a series of images of libraries of yore in NSW, to provide ideas and inspiration for New South Wales public library staff who are planning changes to their libraries. These images will help with plans for renovations and rebuilding.

Libraries, galleries and museums

Possibly one of their most recognized Commons images are from the set Bondi Jitterbug: George Caddy and his Camera. This photo was taken by Ted Hood, Sam’s son.

Bondi Jitterbug

These iconic Sam Hood images are of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the world’s largest steel arch bridge.

Sydney Harbour Bridge

The Library also has an extensive collection of children in their catalog – especially this heartbreaker from the Depression.

Australian children

An absolute must is their historic Antarctic exploration series of images.

First Australasian Antarctic Expedition (1911-1914)

And you know, they also have some of the cutest animal photos to be found in the Commons. Got milk?

Pets and other animals

We’ve barely touched the surface of their impressive collection, so hop over and join in the fun by tagging, commenting, and researching their collection! They’ve over 1,000,000 views on their ~500 photos, which is pretty darned impressive, and we look forward to seeing what their second year in the Commons brings them.

Hip Hip Hoorah and Happy Commonsversary to the State Library of New South Wales!

Today, we celebrate the one year anniversary of the National Media Museum’s induction into the Flickr Commons! The National Media Museum is located in Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK. It is “devoted to film, photography, television, radio and the web.”

The National Photography Collection held at the Museum is one of the finest and most extensive anywhere in the world. It encompasses many significant groups of material, including the Science Museum’s Photography Collection, The Royal Photographic Society Collection, the holdings of the former Kodak Museum and the picture library of the former Daily Herald newspaper.

Their most popular set on Flickr contains spirit photographs by William Hope. Hope was a medium who founded a group comprised of six spirit photographers known as the “Crewe Circle.”

The spirit photographs of William Hope

When Hope was exposed as a fraudster, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle remained a loyal supporter of his.

The spirit photographs of William Hope

Another popular set contains charming circular Kodak snapsnots from the late 1800s. The introduction of the Kodak camera revolutionized photography by virtue of how easy it suddenly became to capture memories.

Kodak No.1 Circular Snapshot

A unique set of 20 photogravures from Peter Henry Emerson, again late 1800s, illustrates the rich historical archives that the NMeM shares through its Flickr photostream.

Peter Henry Emerson – Images from ‘Pictures From Life in Field and Fen’

Another beautiful photograph from this set demonstrates the power of the Commons; a commenter was able to supply location data for this image.

Peter Henry Emerson – Images from ‘Pictures From Life in Field and Fen’

Another favorite set includes images from Charles Darwin’s The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals, a book we covered in detail earlier on this blog.

Human Expressions

Last, a fun set they were inspired to create from an exhibit they held on anthromorphology! The National Media Museum: diverse, humorous, and engaging. HAPPY COMMONSVERSARY!

Snapping Dogs

Among the richest collections in the Commons is that of the Biblioteca de Arte of the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian in Lisbon, Portugal.  And it’s my particular pleasure to make that collection somewhat better on known on the first anniversary of the Gulbenkian’s joining the Commons. In the last year, the Library of Art has uploaded

• 4,345 photos (as of August 11), with new ones added almost daily,
• in 168 sets (almost as many as I have!),
• gathered into 7 themed collections that show the breadth and specialization of this collection.

At the core of the Gulbenkian on the Commons are two collections of photographs from two studios: Mário Novais and Horácio Novais. Both men photographed their times and their surroundings, and though individual photos are not always dated, their rich visual content suggests their times.

Horacio, the younger, focused – or so the Gulbenkian’s Commons collection of his work suggests – on the city of Lisbon and the times he lived in.

Mocidade Portuguesa

Among these images are some of great historical importance, capturing the 1931 revolts against the Salazar dictatorship.

Revolta de 26 de Agosto de 1931 em Lisboa

Mário, the elder, focused, in this selection of his work, on photographs of particular events and installations, but also on transportation, institutions, and (as we’ll see later) on the built world around him.

Exposição Henriquina, Lisboa, 1960

Much of the work of his studio over its 50 years was clearly done on commission, so that it shows a breadth of the national interest, not only his own.

Edifícios industriais

Equally important to the focus on these two remarkable – and related – 20th-century Lisbon studios are the architectural and design collections published in the Commons by the Art Library.

The first of these collections is a selection of an extensive 1960s survey of Portuguese, in black and white and in color, by João Miguel dos Santos Simões, for the Foundation’s own reference work Corpus da azulejaria portuguesa.

Azulejaria Portuguesa (Portuguese Tiles)

A second collection focuses on landscape architecture – the work of the first generation of Portuguese landscape architects, in the mid-20th century, including architect Francisco Caldeira Cabral.

Setúbal

And, most especially, the Gulbenkian continues to amass in the Commons an extraordinary collection of images of Portuguese Gothic architecture.

Concelho de Elvas

This photographic survey of 410 black and white prints from the 1950s, from the studio of Mário Novais, depicts exterior and interior views and decorative details of the heights of medieval building in Portugal.

Concelho de Beja

If you have not found these photos in your searches of the Commons, perhaps it is because few have received the attention in tagging that most accounts based in English-speaking countries have. If you have an interest in European history, in museum collections, in architecture, or in Portugal itself, please consider taking a few minutes of your time to make these photographs more easily accessed by others, or to tell a friend or colleague who speaks Portuguese about them.

And to the Foundation itself … Happy Commonsversary!

Eugène Atget
Heurtoir – 18 Avenue Montaigne (8e arr), 1901-02
George Eastman House: 1981:0950:0033.0001

George Eastman House celebrates their first year on the Flickr Commons with a few words about their achievements on Flickr. We asked Ryan Donahue (Flickr Commons Picture Mover) and Jessica Johnston (Flickr Commons Picture Picker) this question: “If you had to pick 3 things that being on Flickr has done for GEH, what would they be?”

What the Flickr Commons has done for George Eastman House:

1. Engaging and sharing Eastman House collections with Flickr users is fun and helps fulfill our mission to tell the story of photography. What’s better than that?
2. Commons users are giving us a lot of really interesting data about our photos: thousands of tags, hundreds of comments (some insightful, some interesting and some funny).
   There is interesting work yet to be done on the data the project has gathered.
3. The Commons is exposing the museum to online communities that are new to George Eastman House. The Commons is also preparing George Eastman House for the Museum 2.0 movement that is opening new lines of communication and creating conversation between curators and the public. The Commons has fostered George Eastman House’s relationship with innovators in this movement, such as the Brooklyn Museum, the Powerhouse Museum, and the Library of Congress.

Jiu-Jitsu for Women

Outdoor urban market scene

Happy Commonsversary, George Eastman House!

And thanks to Ryan and Jessica for their own words!

GEH as transcribed by Wordle, licensed cc-by

George P. Hall & Son
View of Brooklyn Bridge, ca. 1905
George Eastman House: 1977:0144:0081MP

One year ago, George Eastman House entered the Flickr Commons. We celebrate the breadth and depth of GEH’s collection in this special post.

George Eastman House is the world’s oldest photography museum. It opened to the public in 1949 in the mansion and gardens that George Eastman, the founder of the Eastman Kodak Company, called home from 1905 to 1932. Eastman  is often hailed as the “father of modern photography” — and remarkably, this week also saw the 155th anniversary of Eastman’s birth … while this year marked the end of the production of Kodak’s famed Kodachrome film.

One of George Eastman House’s more popular sets of photos is that of Nickolas Muray’s images. From sleek Dodge sedans to women with kittens, Muray’s advertising portfolio has captured the hearts of Commons fans.

Nickolas Muray (set)

The second most “interesting” photograph in the GEH photosteam (right behind that of a rather iconic woman …) is of Grace Sutherland, a carte de visite — the most popular format for portrait photography in the nineteenth century.At turns whimsical, macabre, or poignant, these images are a treat.

Carte de Visites and Cabinet Cards (set)

The Eastman collection on Flickr contains gems from photographic geniuses.The most recently uploaded set contains the timeless work of Eugène Atget, who refused to work with the latest advances in photographic technology (for examples of the technology achieved in his era, check out the GEH’s set of images from William M. Vander Weyde).

Eugène Atget (set)

Personal favorites of mine in their collection are the James Jowers images from the ’60s and ’70s. This street photography is, simply put, stunning.

James Jowers (set)

This past year, George Eastman House, along with other members of the Flickr Commons, celebrated International Women’s Day with a special series of uploads (including, arguably, the most iconic image of a woman ever taken).

Women! (set)

One of GEH’s early uploads is a set from a collection of more than 10,000 glass plate negatives held at George Eastman House by Ch. Chusseau-Flaviens. Not much is known about the collection, so its importance on Flickr cannot be overstated. A rough sampling of comments on this set demonstrate the power of crowdsourcing (and that Flickreenos love these photos!)

Chusseau – Flaviens (set)

In closing, for your amusement and enjoyment, please click through any of these thumbnails to discover treats of the Eastman legacy, and congratulate the museum founded in his name for its first, fabulous year in the Commons.