Quickest way to implement a searchable, browsable image gallery - flickr integration?

Question

I have a friend who is need of a web page. He does interior construction, and would like to have a gallery of his work. I'll probably go for a php host, and was thinking about the best way to implement the image gallery for him. I came up with:

• Use flickr to host the images. They can be tagged, added to sets, and I can use both the tag and set information to display "categories" for the gallery, as well as browsing. Flickr also has multi-upload tools so that a 20 photo job won't be a PITA to upload.
• How to best get at the api? Is there a good PHP library for flickr integration? Should I roll my own?
• API key - is this considered a commercial project? The web page is for his business, and he will be paying me to create the site...
• Is flickr the wrong tool for the job? It seems like a pretty good solution in my head, but is there something I'm missing? I haven't used their APIs at all.

Thanks for any input!

Answer 1

It sounds like a difficult way to do things - have you considered Gallery (No points on creativity for the name!).

Unless you're really wanting to save on bandwidth, I think you'd get much better results from installing some pre-built gallery.