Unsplash: Beautiful Free Pictures for You

We are sure that one of the things you folks like the best is anything to do with pictures and graphics. Making pictures, taking pictures, editing pictures, making graphics, etc. just seem to be things almost everyone loves… even if it’s just looking at beautiful pictures.

This Cloudeight site of the week pick is a real beauty in more ways than one. It’s called Unsplash.com. Unsplash is a collective work of photographers who have gifted hundreds of thousands of photos, many of them strikingly beautiful, some of them thought-provoking, and all of them free for you to download and use as you see fit — even for commercials purpose.

There are many things wrong with the Web, but Unsplash shows that the Web can be a beautiful place – a place for beauty, sharing and collaboration.

Because we’re sure that you’re anxious to get on with show and take a trip to Unsplash to browse through the photos there, we’re going to bring in the developers of Unsplash to tell you a little bit more about their site:

Unsplash manifesto

Unsplash was created in 2013 as a simple tool for creators. The concept was born from the pain we had as creators in finding great, usable imagery.

The internet was meant to connect, inform, and inspire us in unprecedented ways. Yet, when it came to usable images, that connection was shut down. While the need for images was increasing dramatically, the systems supporting the supply of usable images were incompatible.

Unsplash was formed as the antithesis to the stock image experiences available at the time. Instead of vast libraries, licensed and presented for commercial buyers, Unsplash focused on giving original, high-resolution images for anyone and free to use for anything.

We started Unsplash by giving away 10 images we had leftover from a photoshoot. Today, Unsplash has become a platform fueled by creators who have generously gifted hundreds of thousands of their own photos. We’ve seen Unsplash images inspire millions of creations, from helping a 10-year-old learn graphic design, to powering the imagery behind stories blanketing the internet. Unsplash is a community that celebrates creativity.

Our aim is to celebrate the gifts Unsplash contributors make by pushing the impact of their photography as far as we can. Our world is becoming increasingly visual. Images connect on an emotional level. They are not only how we self-express but also how we understand all kinds of information. The creative spirit is one of exploration. If creativity is a form of exploration, then an image is the perfect start.

From the beginning, Unsplash has held a particular view on the future of creativity, and our vision remains unchanged. We believe everyone is creative and that we have a responsibility to empower everyone to create. Creativity is a fundamental human need that is essential not only for progress but for feeling connected to the world and oneself. Our world is evolving rapidly. Manual to automated. Physical to digital. Earth to Mars. While we don’t know exactly where everything is headed, what we do know is creativity will be how we get there.

Our 3 values:

— Share. Remix, rework, recreate. This only works if we all take part. So share, take, manipulate, and reshare.

— Show Love. While the Unsplash License allows you to share without the limitations of copyright, this doesn’t mean we should ignore the work of our contributors if we can help it. It is not necessary but when possible, support artists willing to offer their work by giving credit.

— Create. Art only exists because of other art. What you build becomes the next material that inspires the next artist. Without creation we have nothing so go make something. …

Unsplash license

All photos published on Unsplash can be used for free. You can use them for commercial and noncommercial purposes. You do not need to ask permission from or provide credit to the photographer or Unsplash, although it is appreciated when possible.

More precisely, Unsplash grants you an irrevocable, nonexclusive copyright license to download, copy, modify, distribute, perform, and use photos from Unsplash for free, including for commercial purposes, without permission from or attributing the photographer or Unsplash. This license does not include the right to compile photos from Unsplash to replicate a similar or competing service…

So… all you have to do now is visit Unsplash.com and plan on spending some time. You’ll be amazed what you find there. For as the developers say… “Without creation we have nothing so go make something.”