Photos seem like a perfect application for content addressable storage (eg IPFS/bittorrent.) I wonder how long before "normal people" catch on. If they were hosted that way at least the links wouldn't break as long as people had backups.
Starting May 17, 2022, we [Flickr] will begin removing non-public content in violation of Flickr’s new free account limit policies. This applies to Free accounts with more than 50 non-public photos (private, friends, family, or friends and family).