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.

Your weekly introduction into the newest photographs uploaded to the Flickr Commons.

Our lead story? The George Eastman House uploads a set of Eugène Atget’s photographs just in time for their one year Commonsversary.

Atget’s unique documentation of the French capital captured the eye of surrealist photographer Man Ray, who worked to promote Atget as one of the pre-eminent photographic modernists. Later, the efforts of Berenice Abbott, who acquired Atget’s negatives and prints after his death, finally situated Atget’s work in the history of photography, where it continues to gain in stature and influence. Wow. Just. .. wow!

Eugène Atget

The State Library of Queensland, Australia, delivers yet another stunner as their Picture of the Week! Flickr user orangecats says, This pic taught me this Qantas stands for somthing … Queensland And Northern Territory Aerial Services Ltd.

Picture of the Week

Do you know how thick Gotham was? Find out in the fabulous set of news supplements from the Library of Congress. I enjoyed this one since it provides a look at a skyscraper of yore, long ago torn down.

Illustrated Newspaper Supplements

The Bibliothèque de Toulouse uploads charming images of a village in France. They belong to quite a few different sets; I like the Personnages et portraits set for the stories it seems to tell.

Bélesta, France

Tag! Comment! Enjoy!

William M. Vander Weyde (American 1871–1929)
Charles Sprague Smith, ca. 1900
George Eastman House: 1974:0056:1027

view + comment on Flickr

Hey kids, we think the Flickr Commons is the best thing since sliced bread. Today (July 7) happens to mark the anniversary of sliced bread, too! So, enjoy this tasty morsel from the George Eastman House, and we’ll be back tomorrow with your recent uploads for the week! Enjoy!

Nickolas Muray
NUCOA MARGARINE, ca. 1955
George Eastman House: 1977:0100:0038

[edit] – we can count, really! It’s actually the 81st anniversary of sliced bread. ;-)

Friday Fun!

The Brooklyn Museum engaged in live tweeting on 23 June when they took four mummies from their collection to be CT scanned at the North Shore University Hospital in Long Island. They used hashtag #mummyCT: their Tweets and with everyone!
See more photos and videos here.

Heard around the Commons:

• The Brooklyn Museum’s 1stfans Twitter Art Feed Artist for July 2009: Ranjit Bhatnagar’s “Exquisite Sonnet.” 1stfans members, get yer tweet on for this one!
• The 2nd International m-Libraries Conference in Vancouver is all a-twitter with updates: #mlib09.
• Make it Digital – DigitalNZ’s one-stop shop for questions about creating digital content in New Zealand! This site features questions, ideas, and guides; do drop by and check it out.
• Top museums on Twitter – Jim Richardson reports on how museums are using the popular micro-blogging website Twitter. The Brooklyn Museum is listed as #2.
• Be sure to make a visit to The Source: news about digital libraries and library innovations from around the web, brought to you every Friday by the National Library of New Zealand. Copyfights!
• What’s in the workshop #2 – Investigate the Powerhouse Museum’s fetish for strange things on wheels.
• The New York Public Library is gearing up for its new website launch. Yay! The NYPL also has some new things in the works and is looking for lab rats.
• Name that film! The George Eastman House shares sleuthing tips.
• NARA and MoMA – See what’s happening with the students of The L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation, from the George Eastman House.
• Aquamarine crystals are the Gemstone of the Month at the Field Museum’s Grainger Hall of Gems.
• The National Librarian, Andrew Green, of the National Library of Wales, will be among those honored by the Gorsedd of Bards at this year’s National Eisteddfod.
• Diwrnod agoriadol y Smithsonian – ahhhhh, no idea what this says, but I liked seeing the Smithsonian being discussed in Welsh. ;-)
• Watch the 2009 Smithsonian Folklife Festival webcasts this weekend! Welsh music, mariachis, storytelling and poetry.
• Suited for Space: Last Words from the Curator – An engaging blog post reporting on the tribulations of a traveling space exhibit by the Smithsonian Institution.
• SI also reports on how Google Street View was used to solve a crime.
• A Short History of Photography from Cigar Box to Cell Phone, by Merry A. Foresta of the Smithsonian Photography Initiative
• The Swedish National Heritage Board live blogs from its activities during Almedal week. The Board will organize a seminar on e-government and new social media July 2.
• Portraits — and Pot-Shots — in Song: A witty exhibit from the Library of Congress chronicling US Presidential campaign songs.
• Newstead – The State Library of Queensland, Australia, tells you all about this Brisbane suburb.
• Also, Picture Queensland images now available through One Search.
• The Oregon State University Archives reports that William Jasper Kerr, a biography, has been scanned and is now available on ScholarsArchive.
• Win one of the biggest Harry Potter posters in the world in the National Media Museum’s competition.

Go Visit!

12th June to 31st August: The Art Competition for Schools 2009 exhibition at the National Galleries of Scotland. See the 53 winning works of budding young talents.

24 June through 22 August: With Malice Toward None: Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibit, a traveling exhibit from the Library of Congress at the California Museum in Sacramento, CA.

Throughout July: The July Film Series is announced at the Library of Congress’s Packard Campus Theater, including Key Largo, An American in Paris, and Chinatown.

2 July: Exclusive preview of Soul Power, a film by Jeffrey Levy-Hinte documenting a music festival that unites black American stars with African musicians in Kinshasa, at the National Media Museum.

James Jowers
Tompkins Sq. Park, 1967
George Eastman House: 2007:0274:0056

view + comment on Flickr

Flickr’s best-known meme may be Kitten, Baby, Sunset, Flower … We bring you oodles of them from across the Commons!

George Eastman House	Powerhouse Museum
KITTEN	BABY

Brooklyn Museum	State Archives of Florida
SUNSET	FLOWER

Again, with gusto!

Nationaal Archief	State Library of Queensland, Australia
KITTEH!	BABEH!

Oregon State University Archives	George Eastman House
SUNSET!	FLOWER!

SHOUT IT OUT! Help keep the New York Public Library open.

Read more about the NYPL’s plight at the Daily News.

Heard around the Commons:

• Vet du hvor bildet er tatt? Last week, the Swedish National Heritage Board asked for help identifying a photo in the Commons. Within 24 hours, the location was determined … and they got a write up on the news!
• Pirates land in Chicago, a photo essay in the Chicago Sun-Times of the Field Museum’s “Real Pirates”.
• The Field’s dead geese help solve mystery of plane in Hudson, an article by the Chicago Tribune.
• Enter the Don McCullin competition at the National Media Museum: Win a signed hardback copy of the book Don McCullin by commenting on one of the photos Don curated for the museum’s Flickr stream.
• Check out the photos of the opening night of 1984, with John Hurt, at the National Media Museum.
• Celebrate the 1,000th Tyrrell image in the Powerhouse Museum’s Flickr stream!
• Valour is explained by the Australian War Memorial.
• Installing the Summer Shows, insight into the behind-the-scenes work at the George Eastman House.
• I Do Solemnly Swear … Got photos of the 2009 U.S. Presidential Inauguration? Share them with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
• Picnic pest is focus of a Smithsonian exhibition — A write-up from the Philadelphia Enquirer on an intriguing photography exhibit.
• Check out some new National Air and Space Museum Photos (Smithsonian).
• Meanwhile, back on earth … A Slideshow, curated Flickr photos, by the Smithsonian Photography Initiative’s Marvin Heiferman.
• Islamic Art at the Brooklyn Museum, from Sunday Arts.
• Check out this interview by the Examiner of Dr. Patrick Amsellem, the Associate Curator of Photography at the Brooklyn Museum.
• The Sounds of American Life and Legend are tapped for the Seventh Annual National Recording Registry, from the Library of Congress.

Friday Fun!

The History of Household Technology, from the Library of Congress

Go Visit!

Now through 30 June — 1969: The Year of Gay Liberation at the New York Public Library. The 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village, New York, is this month. There’s also a collection of GLBT books on display at the D.C. Public Library. We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it!

12-14 June – Fantastic Films Weekend at the National Media Museum. Oohhhhhhhhh, scary movies!

13 June –Garden Fest 2009: The Scenic Route, the annual all day family-friendly event presented by the Horticulture Services Division (HSD) at the Smithsonian Institution.

13 June — Alice Waters book signing at the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

15 June – Kick-Off Event: Juneteenth DC 2009 at the D.C. Public Library. Featuring performances, remarks and a reception in celebration of the abolition of slavery in the U.S. More info on Juneteenth here.

16 June – What Is a Conversation Piece? at the National Galleries of Scotland. Desmond Shawe-Taylor, Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures, explores this fascinating type of art, which is such an important tradition within European painting.

Our First Oldsmobile - 1897, New York Public Library

The headlines are filled this week with the news of General Motors, an American icon, declaring bankruptcy. The New York Public Library takes us on a stroll down memory lane with six sets of GM photographs, chronicling the storied manufacturers history, in their G.M. and Chrysler Cars and Trucks, 1897-1938 collection on the Flickr Commons.

Heard around the Commons:

• Help the NYPL! Donate today to the New York Public Library. Services there are now at risk; even throughout the Great Depression, The New York Public Library was able to maintain seven days of service.
• Read all about the Civilian Conservation Corps’s (CCC) 1933 Camp Arboretum, from the Oregon State University Archives. Sort of ties in with that whole Depression-era thing we have going on lately.
• Check out OSU’s new finding aids, too.
• Brooklyn Museum API: the iPhone app released on iTunes!
• Wales in Europe – art without frontiers – Read about the National Library of Wales’ contributions to EuropeanaTravel.
• WIGGLE! JIGGLE! Get jiggity with stereoscopic images from the National Library of New Zealand. Read more at our Flickr group.
• 1000th Tyrrell image in the Commons (1265 released in total) – Celebrate with the Powerhouse Museum on this milestone by commenting, tagging, and viewing!
• And check out their new Flickr group, Sydney Design.
• U. S. Copyright Office to Adjust Fees – Information from the Library of Congress.
• “Everything You Know About Indians is Wrong” – From Smithsonian curator Paul Chaat Smith (review by the Washington Post).
• Take a sneak peak of the a new D.C. Public Library Building.
• The George Eastman House asks for your help in moving them up the charts at CommuniCause’s $25,000 Social Media Makeover contest. Re-tweet early and often!
• Destroying Photographs? A decision made about old photographs for an exhibit by the GEH.
• Conserving Hollywood History at George Eastman House – an article about film preservation that includes some great old stills.
• Print of the Brisbane River donated by the Mackay Historical Society to the State Library of Queensland, Australia.
• The girl on the badge – A story of an Anzac Day donation to the Australian War Memorial.
• Being serious isn’t the whole answer – a great article by the Electronic Museum on Web 2.0 and museums.
• Everyone’s Smithsonian – an entry by Nina Simon on the Smithsonian Institution and multi-platform museum experiences.
• Celebrating 2,020 years of service – A tribute to the Smithsonian’s docents.
• Like birds? Apply to be an exhibit interpreter at the Bird House for the Smithsonian’s National Zoo!

Friday Fun!

Vote at Budget Travel for the squeeeelicious Clouded Leopard cubs at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo! See more of the cubs on Flickr.

Go Visit!

6 June 2009 - Target 1st Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum! Free entertainment.

9 June – The 31st Annual Museum Mile Festival in New York City. Free access to all museums along the mile, including the Smithsonian Institution’s Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum.