I like open access collections; I don't do a lot of remixing/derivative work/whatever you want to call it, but I still find public domain images to be a fun way to study photographers' methods and find inspiration for projects. Here's where I like to go:
- Library of Congress on Flickr strong focus on Americana and slice-of-life documentary work, as well as old postcards, greeting cards, etc.
- Smithsonian Open Access browse or search by topic; most of it is photographs of the physical collection, but there are several thousand photos from the American Art Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery
- The Color Of Dreams from the Albert Kahn museum in France, this is a huge collection of early autochromes from all over the world. Kahn was a banker that hired a fleet of photographers to travel the world with this new color photographic technology to document global life before the technological revolution changed things forever. Site is in French only and search only works in French.
All of these resources are public domain and free to use/download. I'd love to find more sources like these!
