Previously, I believed Flickr to be just another photo sharing site, much like Shutterfly or Snapfish. Now that I have explored the website a little more, I have discovered that I was mistaken in this belief. Flickr is not for photo sharing, but is more of an archive of photography.
While I was exploring Flickr, I really enjoyed browsing the photos that are part of The Commons project. Flickr has developed what they call The Commons as a way to bring together all of the various photographs available in the public domain. This is an easier way for users to find and utilize historic photographs. OnThe Commons page, Flickr lists all of the participating institutions and users can browse all of the public photographs that particular institution has in its collection. For example, NASA is one of the participating institutions and Flickr users can browse NASA's photo archives. One of my favorite pictures from this collection was this photo of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins in a parade in New York following the Apollo 11 mission. I think history teachers could use this photo when teaching the history of space exploration.
I also really liked this photo of an old barbershop, in which three African American men sit. I found this picture in the Mississippi Department of Archives and history. With this photo, teachers could start a discussion about race relations in the Deep South.
I don't know that I can say that I really enjoyed this last photo in that it invoked a deep sense of sadness for those who experienced the Holocaust. This photo, from the Center of Jew History in New York City, is of the Munich synagogue after it was destroyed by the Nazis in 1938. This last picture could be used by history teachers to discuss the Holocaust and other aspects of fascism.
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