Saturday, November 8, 2008

The Commons

Photo: Coogee Beach, Sydney

I've been looking further into the copyright situation surrounding the photos I posted below, and it really does seem they are free from copyright, so I think I'm going to print a few out and frame them individually, postcard size and make a bit of a feature wall of them... of course I say this now and it probably won't happen for another 12 months, but anyway..

I'm learning more about the overall project, which is on Flickr called The Commons. It's basically a whole bunch of public institutions releasing their archival photographs onto the web, to create a highly accessible and interactive database.

While the Library of Congress pioneered the project, interestingly, NSW is very involved, and the Powerhouse Museum, the State Library and the National Maritime Museum are all offering their photos.
It's funny how even though I'd hope I was beyond the cultural cringe, I still have a sense that NSW/Australia is such a lightweight in these kind of cultural projects. It's sad that I would be ashamed, so I've purposely posted a photo of Coogee, to instill in myself a sense of national pride!
My brain is salivating at this amazing database now at my fingertips! I can see many lazy saturday afternoons trawling through these photos...

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