Flickr

What an overwhelming resource. I started looking at the images from Sudan, and got lost in the wonderful pieces I found. I was also struck by the very vague (to me) explanation of copyright. I obviously spend way too much nuancing copyright language, but to state only how to protest if your own rights have been infringed, as opposed to putting something to guide other users to appropriate behavior seems unethical.

Tagging seems to be something that only folks with those kind of minds that want everything neat and tidy seem to think of. Some photographers chose their collection of tags and used them for all images whether they were relevant or not. For example if a person had one photograph of Uganda they might leave that tag up for all other photographs.

I realised with the incredible quantity and variety of images that if I didn't remember the tags correctly I would never find an image again. And I couldn't find the photographer that I wanted to post. But I did learn that NGOs are now using Flickr - my search for Ugandan and Sudan pictures found images posted by IRC (International Rescue Committee) and MercyCorps.


One of the more interesting use of flickr to me is the use of the site by museums. http://www.ideum.com/blog/category/flickr/ is a museum design company. I found their work while looking for some mining photographs from the 1940s to add to a collection I am working on for coal mining in Western Maryland. The work of John Collier is now posted on Flickr by the Maxwell Museum of the University of Arizona - The American Image: The Photographs of John Collier Jr. http://americanimage.unm.edu/

The notion of a university and museum using flickr for a mashup is revolutionary - there go webpages as we know them.