turning up in strange places Tweet

The default license for my Flickr uploads is set to Creative Commons by-nc (attribution/non-commercial), which means that people are welcome to use my photos for non-commercial purposes, including creating derivative works, so long as they specify that I am the artist/owner of the original. This results in all kinds of interesting connections, including the thrill of seeing my work in some strange places.

Today, for instance, I found that an illustration I drew in 1992 and scanned a few years ago was used in a blog post about the death of Gabon’s president, Omar Bongo, earlier this month. The illustration is a map of Gabon that I drew in my sketchbook while I was interning with the Peace Corps there. (Incidentally, the post consists almost entirely of a quote from another source.)

I love finding things scattered around the Internet this way, especially when the person using the image has taken the time to honor my requests (by-nc). I can’t say enough in favor of Creative Commons. My postcards rely on cc-licensed photos; it’s where I get inspiration to be creative, or find just the right image to bring to life the art in my mind. I’m sure all six of my blog readers already use CC, but just in case you don’t, please consider licensing your visual, written, or other creative work with one of the Creative Commons licenses. Who knows where your stuff might turn up?