85456529 Kate Brady/Getty Images

We built the licensing platform and with your cutting-edge imagery, together we’ve created an extraordinary collection…and it keeps getting bigger! We now have more than 15,000 images from photographers in over 80 countries in the Flickr Collection on Getty Images.

While we continue to look through Flickr’s two billion images, it’s important for you to let us know what you think.

Are you finding what you need?

Is there a picture on Flickr that you wish was in the collection but isn’t in there yet?

What do you wish there was more of?

Don’t hold back. Be honest, be vocal, and we’ll be grateful. Leave your comments here today.

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As Erin mentioned in a previous post, one of the exciting things about Flickr is that we’re able to access some really fantastic images which reflect the lifestyles and people of specific regions around the world. This is great news for our customers who are searching for imagery with a local flavor.

Aside from great travel imagery, we want to find strong lifestyle imagery. The challenge is to find images that aren’t too cliche but not so random that we lose the connection. Below are some examples of imagery we’ve selected for the German speaking regions so far.

Do you think we’re getting it right?

85154229 Claudia Probst/Getty Images

85149179, Johannes Henseler/Flickr

85154089, Thomas Lottermoser/Flickr

85111840 Photography ©Eke Meidaner

85421437, German Meyer/Flickr

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One of the most amazing pieces of this collaboration for us here at Getty Images to watch has been the incredible reach of the Flickr community, and how that expresses itself through the location of the artists who are signing up.

So far, Flickr members from 84 countries have joined in the Flickr Collection on Getty Images.

From Australia:

85186754, Leah Consunji/Flickr

to Croatia:

85321912, photographer artist/Flickr

From the Philippines:

85153912, Fresh amazing pictures make people look!/Flickr

to Tunisia:

85485280, Mar?a Aguilar Calero/Flickr

There are already around 100 artists (in some cases a lot more) signed up in places like Italy, Japan, Germany, Spain, the US, the UK, Netherlands, Canada, and so on…

And numbers are climbing in other spots like Brazil, Norway, Romania, Switzerland, Taiwan, Finland, just to name a few.

The most amazing thing of all is that this partnership is just getting started!

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There are a lot of pictures on Flickr that make me smile and this is definitely one of them. If this shot was key worded more according to stock standards it probably would’ve read something like ‘Man and woman embracing, blue sky in background’ but on Flickr, I love how not only are there so many original images but there are some pretty unique headlines as well.  “Hair Love, “  need I say more?

85308066, Shampoo Violeta/Flickr

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Does Flickr imagery transcend the culture of the place it was taken? Does it have universal appeal?

As an editor for the Flickr Collection, I’ve looked at thousands of images on Flickr, and whenever I come across Japanese imagery, I find it distinctively Japanese. I’ve posted some examples below:

85176930 © Stephan Wilms/Flickr

85269903, Masato Ninomiya/Getty Images

85154506, detch/Flickr

85151272, © 2007 Jon Climpson/Flickr

Is it culture? Is it country? Is it aesthetic? What is it exactly that makes these feel so familiar to me?

Japan is a country of Zen, Karaoke, Samurai, Harajuku girls, Wii, cup noodles, sushi and the list goes on and on. It’s a country of all things in the mix.

For those who have seen the film, “Lost in Translation” by Sophie Coppola, you might have wondered the same thing as I have. Is it western? Is it Japanese? Or is it the mix of both that makes the film universal?

What are your thoughts? We would love to hear what you think of the Japanese imagery we have so far in the Flickr collection!

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Vict?ria Pe?afiel/Flickr

I can’t help but notice that the Flickr partnership is turning up a very different type of imagery from what we normally edit.

They’re not all “slice of life” pictures either — there’s some really considered, crafted work from hugely talented photographers. What I get a kick out of is the tiny details of people’s lives – the little moments that say or reveal a lot, which are local but universal.

The shot above from a photographer in Barcelona is a great example – you have all the intimacy of family life, care and protection, animal instinct – maybe also competition! It’s shot through (excuse the  pun) with humor and warmth. This is true of a lot of Flickr imagery and is amazingly hard to recreate.

Images like this also have a general appeal, despite (or maybe because?) they’re intensely individual.  Like a lot of the Flickr stuff I love, if you read a description of the shot you’d struggle to visualize it – but it works.

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85153864,  Sarah Hall Photography/Flickr

For the past several years, whenever I asked our customers where they went for inspiration the first word that tripped from their lips was, and still is, Flickr. It’s cool, it’s unique, it’s unexpected and funny. It’s wild and sad and beautiful and you never know what seven days of “Interesting” is going to reveal. And now it’s on gettyimages.com. Whoo hoo!

The creative and photo research teams at Getty Images from all over the world (I’m talking China, Brazil, the US, UK and beyond) have spent the last several months exploring and celebrating all Flickr has to offer in order to bring the most exciting and relevant content to gettyimages.com. It has been an absolute pleasure.

So, here’s the thing. There are three BILLION pictures on Flickr and we are literally at the tip of “ye olde iceberg.” We’re starting small and then we’ll continue our journey and add thousands of new pictures a month while asking more and more Flickr members to participate. This deserves another whoo hoo!

We thought we’d try to answer a few questions here at the outset. But really, we want to hear from you. My colleagues and I will be checking back here often, ready to answer your questions and read all of your wonderful comments.

I am a Flickr member. How can I get invited to participate in the collection?

Our creative teams look through Flickr in a number of ways, but mostly through tags and regular keyword searches. Keep in mind the more descriptive you are with your pictures, the easier they are for us to find. So attach all of the good juju like locations or a descriptive caption. Also, we’re only looking at public images – so make sure any images you’d like considered are set as public. And finally, check the “yes” box on this page and we’ll be sure to find you.

How do you go about selecting imagery from Flickr?

The creative teams have spent thousands of hours with amazing photographers and photography. Our global photo research teams have spent thousands of hours listening to customer needs. We’ve combined those core strengths to select the brightest and most relevant content. And, at the end of the day, we hope to hear directly from you. So tell us exactly what you need right here on this blog by leaving a comment.

How can I let you know I’d like to license an image on Flickr that is not on Getty Images?

In the next few months we intend to add a new feature that will allow you to tag images that you are interested in licensing. We’ll keep you posted.

So that’s it! Let us know what you think! And a final whoo hoo for sign off!

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