I’ve been neglecting my blog again, so here’s a photo to make sure that it doesn’t feel too unloved and forgotten.
Brooklyn Museum Collections API
The Brooklyn Museum in New York has recently announced an API to allow the searching of its collection. The API is free to use, but you do need to sign up for an API key before you can use it.
There are currently three methods in the API:
collection.search
collection.getItem
collection.getImages
which between them allow you to search the collection and return a wide variety of data about the items held.
I’ve spent a little time this weekend playing around with the new API, and have started to put together a simple Flash-based browser to allow you to search through the collection. Try it out here.
Snow Angel
The snow here has pretty much all gone now. Apart from the occasional small patch of grey white slush still lurking in a shady corner, all we have left are the photographs. I finally got a couple of films developed this week that were taken at the height of the snows with my Hasselblad. Mostly “meh”, but one or two that I quite like.
This was one of the first shots I took with my new extension tubes – the 10mm, I think. Sat on the back of my 80mm lens, it does a nice job of helping fill the frame.
5 Questions
The Flickr Developer Blog is running a “5 Questions” series, and late last year, I was picked by GustavoG as the next developer to interview. Last night Dan Catt finally hit the publish button and my interview has now been posted.
It’s only been two months, but so much has happened since that interview: the new Set Manager is still in development, but the public beta is now available to all. I’ve also started a Set Manager group on Flickr where people can discuss the Set Manager, get help on how to use it or suggest new features.
And of course, I’ve started work on a new project: Indicommons. The Indicommons site exists to help promote the Flickr Commons – the gathering together on Flickr of some of the world’s public photo collections. There’s a great team of people working together over at Indicommons, with fascinating new articles being published every day. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you really should!
Misty Morning
I’ve been in a bit of a photographic slump just lately. The cameras have sat on the side of my desk for weeks now, looking forlorn and neglected. Yesterday afternoon, I decided enough was enough – I finally kicked myself into action and finished off the roll that had been sat stagnating in the Holga. I developed it last night, and scanned it in this morning. There’s a couple there I’m reasonably happy with. And now I’ve at last jolted myself out of my rut, I might even go out and take some more…
