5 Vancouver Flickr Groups to Follow

Flickr, the popular photo sharing site, began in Vancouver back in 2004. Now owned by Yahoo!, it has grown to over 50 million users worldwide. It offers Creative Commons licensing on images, privacy settings, a free version (as well a paid, pro version), and intuitive search functions.

Photo credit: Chris Campbell

I have been a Flickr user since 2004 and have been curating my Miss604 Flickr Pool for Metro Vancouver since 2008. The benefits are numerous but my top reasons for sharing my photos on Flickr include the licensing options, tags (for being searchable), and the community of people that will see (and potentially share) your work. John actually had a photo of his published in a book about craft beer in the Pacific Northwest after the author searched Flickr and came across his shots from Howe Sound Brewing.

The famous “kissing couple” photo from the 2011 riot in Vancouver was also posted to Flickr by Rich Lam and then licensed through Getty Images.

There are several other Vancouver-related Flickr Group to which users add their images so I thought I would profile a handful.

Vanishing Vancouver
Group Link: Vanishing Vancouver
Description: “This group is for photos of disappearing aspects, or little fragments of the city that won’t be around much longer. Maybe you have a photo of a house down the street that’s slowly falling apart, or perhaps a building downtown facing the wrecking ball, or maybe you’ve even got some photos of some places that are already gone. Then this is the group for you!”

What’s left of the Pantages Theatre. Vanishing Vancouver. Photo credit: Photocat62 on Flickr

Vancouver Transit
Group Link
Description: “Photos and discussion about Vancouver’s transit system, including buses and trolleys, SeaBus, SkyTrain, and the West Coast Express.”

Vancouver Transit. Photo credit: rbrtwhite on Flickr

Guess Where Vancouver
Group Link
Description: “In this group you should post intriguing pictures of something (people, places, things) in Vancouver. Vancouver is being defined by the group as the GVRD (now known as Metro Vancouver). You post a photo. We guess where it was taken. Participating is a great way to get to know the city — or show off how well you know your ‘hood.”

Rick Hansen 25th Anniversary Relay
Group Link
Description: “Please add your photos of Medal-Bearers taking part in the Rick Hansen 25th Anniversary Relay. We would also love to see photos of community activities as the Relay passes through your town/city. All photos posted here will appear on RickHansenRelay.com.”

The Rick Hansen 25th Anniversary Relay is currently in Alberta and will get to British Columbia on March 19, 2012.

Rick Hansen Relay. Photo credit: heatherinpei on Flickr

Foncie’s Fotos
Group Link
Description: “Street photographer Foncie Pulice must have shot over a million people walking along Granville Street in Vancouver between 1946 and 1979. He’d hand you a ticket as you passed which you could redeem for your picture after 24 hours. There must be tens of thousands of these photos kicking around in albums, scrapbooks, etc. Do you have any?”

My Opa on Granville, captured by Foncie.

While the Foncie’s group doesn’t have very many members, I wanted to profile it in case there are any other Foncie photos out there. I wrote about Foncie Pulice back in 2007 when I first came across my Opa’s photo. His story is a very interesting slice of local street photography history.

To add your Flickr photos to a group click on Actions > Add to Group. Only groups that you have joined will appear in the list.

Be sure to read the group’s rules before adding your images as well. Some have daily limits on the number of photos you can share and others are very specific about the type of images they allow in the pool. Pay particular attention to the rules for Guess Where Vancouver, which can be a really fun visual trivia game.

Feel free to add your Metro Vancouver & Fraser Valley images to the Miss604 Flickr Pool to share with others and for possible feature on Miss604.com.