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online repository ?

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i've got almost 30+ years worth of documentary images
some local within 20 miles of where i grew up and currently live
and and awful lot from where i lived in the 80s / 90s.
some was documentary work i did for local libraries, some was done on my own
i want to put them up and not sure the best way to do this.
any suggestions ?
i've thought of filling my website and maybe my flickr feed with them, also thought of getting an instagram account
but i hesitate because a bunch of years ago when i left facebook there was a lot of photographers' angst
because of ownership and usage rights and i am not sure what is true anymore and what isn't.
any idea what the deal is with instagram ?
thanks
 
The question is, do you want to benefit from the images financially or just to see them posted somewhere where others can view/use?
Or do you want them to be preserved for preservation's sake?
I think many photographers (self included) face the same questions but don't have a clue.
 
hi ced

i would like not to make lots of $$ from them, but for people to be able to look and learn from them i suppose ( preservation sake as you put it )
but i also don't want some sort of business to come buy and see the photographs and decide to use them in some sort of advertising campaign on my dime ...
 
You can use Amazon AWS/Cloud and their S3 server storage to create a simple website at low cost using simple HTML and Client side javascript. If you read about server-less web sites you can get a little more advanced and have a database like application that can watermark your images while still serving them to the public. otherwise blogging sites may allow you to put up your photos and create text around them. It all depends how much time, effort, and money you want to put into it. Make sure you register all the images and state that they are for public viewing only and that commercial use must be paid for. Then if you catch someone mis-using your images you can collect.
 
thanks for the info eric !
when i get a chance, i will look into that ...
 
I'm avoiding any cloud storage because you can't control what they do with your photos and you have no guarantees for the long term it will be in existence indeed.

I also don't use a CMS (Content Managing System) because it creates too many dependencies, the environment is never how you want it to be, and I don't like to invest a lot of time learning how to implement and use something that is too specific.

Instead I have coded my web site in plain HTML (XHTML) by hand, that is, I made templates for the various pages and they can be reused at will. Coding is done in a plain text editor (NoteTab Pro) in the old-fashioned way. This editor has syntax highlighting.

All my source code and photo's are located on my PC; it is a complete and working web site which can be shown in a browser. Any new pages and changes in existing pages are uploaded to the server from this local source. So, effectively an exact copy of the source is also residing on the server for public access. This allows me to work off-line and I have a backup in case something goes wrong on the server or even with the provider.

The main structure of the site is a set of index pages with thumbnails pointing to the actual pages with photo's. The only other pages are 'Home', 'New', 'Archives' and 'About'. That's it. To inform regular visitors of new posts they can link to an RSS page (which is of type XML) via their RSS-Reader. This RSS page has the same contents as the 'New' page but it has another format.

Of course, this is a very simple setup without any advanced functions, but for me it is good enough as an online repository.
 
I think in the end
I will just end up making a ton of prints, put them in folios
and just donate them to local libraries where the photographs were taken so they have hard copies to do as they wish.
already some of these libraries have scanned and uploaded my photos to their servers ..
for decades i have made hand stitched books for libraries, little libraries
because i have found big libraries and historical societies and historic agencies
(while they do great things) can be kind of difficult to access.
maybe I will set up an online hoard on my flickr account, or just donate the prints
to someone like MIT and have them scan and upload them .. they already have
giant collections ( 15,000 image ) from the planning department &c ... whats a few more

thanks for the suggestions and personal experiences !
john
 
John, I wonder, if libraries are scanning the photo's to put them online, why give them prints instead of scans. Also, that will be a huge undertaking, scanning that many negatives.
I actually don't understand what your initial idea was, you can't put original photo's online, they will be stolen, unless access is via a login for authorized people.
 
billy
my initial idea was to find a trustworth online repository of digital images, contemporary streetscapes, architectural views &c
to house some of my work. and now a 9 months later i am thinking of just giving prints, and asking them not to scan them.
i've had work published without consent before and i would rather not deal ...
with regards to login / keeping unauthorized people out, libraries don't do that, they just upload.
 
hi kino

yeah, no matter what you do, leeches will get you.
unfortunately its not like hookworm ( or is it roundworm? ) where you can have
a symbotic relationship, and it improves imunological response
to a variety of other things ( severe allergies, RA, asthma, &c )
but they will suck the lifeblood out of you and leave you like an anemic zombie ...

thanks for the gang registration form !
i've registered my work before, but it is always good to post the link
seeing a lot of people believe you don't need to register to get protection.

john
 
I'm sure it's OK to scan and put your work somewhere in "the Cloud". That way it will (hopefully) be available to people for generations. Being a Luddite, I would say your negatives and prints should also be saved. Our local library has a section for just that. We had a photo studio in town for two full generations, and they had a wonderful treasure of the history of our area. These are saved in our library and administered by people that know how to preserve such things. I, for one, am very glad for this.
 
www.pbase.com

I've used them for at least 15 years, from way back when payments were voluntary. It's still dirt cheap, they have no interest in controlling or monitizing your photos.
 
As I'm sure you have already deduced, the most important picture historically are also the most mundane - this is what things looked liked or how people dressed at a certain time and place. To achieve this goal, you need to not only preserve the images, but annotate the images with information about dates, locations and situations. Flickr is good at this, and lets people add their own comments. On the other hand, images posted to Flickr should be considered as donations and may be used illegally (in good faith or bad faith) by others.

Unfortunately, the best way to preserve the images and allow access to all interested parties will allow your photos to go "viral" to some extent and take away most of your control over the images.
 
Paul Verizzo said:
www.pbase.com
I've used them for at least 15 years, from way back when payments were voluntary. It's still dirt cheap, they have no interest in controlling or monitizing your photos.
Click to expand...

Thanks, but I have no interest in uploading anything to pbase. Maybe now they have no interest but I don't trust any of the current online services to hold images.


Hi Wallendo
I know exactly what you mean about mundane images. They show things without pretense. As I mentioned to PV I worry about online services. I know my images will not go viral and have no interest in that sort of thing. While jtk's suggestion of microfilm was interesting, and I actually contacted a company that does this sort of work, I'm thinking more and more about continuing with volumes of hand bound books, and giving them to the libraries where the photographs are from. While digitizing everything seems democratic, even the people who I spoke with at the microfilm companies, hard copies are the best antidote to "online issues" and some sort of catastrophe that could knock out magnetic based computer-stuff.

J
 
I think Billy Axeman has the best approach for your images. Maybe he might even share his code with you so you don't have to learn all the CCS and Html stuff.
 

How does your goal differ from that of Google Street View? You presumably make more standardized photos...but Street View takes b&w art affections out of the equation and depicts buildings in millions of places without human whims. Not an argument...serious question.
 
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