diff --git a/src/app/config.ts b/src/app/config.ts
index f55d4577..ab1b7bb5 100644
--- a/src/app/config.ts
+++ b/src/app/config.ts
@@ -272,6 +272,14 @@ export const IMAGE_QUALITY =
   process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_IMAGE_QUALITY
     ? parseInt(process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_IMAGE_QUALITY)
     : 75;
+// Load photos from storage CDN in the browser (skip /_next/image server proxy).
+// Enabled by default when a public R2 domain is configured; set to 0 to disable.
+export const DIRECT_STORAGE_IMAGES =
+  process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_DIRECT_STORAGE_IMAGES === '1' ||
+  (
+    process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_DIRECT_STORAGE_IMAGES !== '0' &&
+    Boolean(process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_CLOUDFLARE_R2_PUBLIC_DOMAIN)
+  );
 export const BLUR_ENABLED =
   process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_BLUR_DISABLED !== '1';
 
diff --git a/src/components/image/ImageWithFallback.tsx b/src/components/image/ImageWithFallback.tsx
index d1936cf6..715b9199 100644
--- a/src/components/image/ImageWithFallback.tsx
+++ b/src/components/image/ImageWithFallback.tsx
@@ -1,8 +1,12 @@
 'use client';
 
 /* eslint-disable jsx-a11y/alt-text */
-import { BLUR_ENABLED } from '@/app/config';
+import { BLUR_ENABLED, DIRECT_STORAGE_IMAGES } from '@/app/config';
 import { useAppState } from '@/app/AppState';
+import {
+  getDirectPhotoDisplayUrl,
+  isExternalStoragePhotoUrl,
+} from '@/photo/storage';
 import { clsx}  from 'clsx/lite';
 import Image, { ImageProps } from 'next/image';
 import { RefObject, useCallback, useEffect, useRef, useState } from 'react';
@@ -26,11 +30,29 @@ export default function ImageWithFallback({
 
   const [isLoading, setIsLoading] = useState(true);
   const [didError, setDidError] = useState(false);
+  const [fallbackSrc, setFallbackSrc] = useState<string | undefined>();
   const [fadeFallbackTransition, setFadeFallbackTransition] =
     useState(!hasLoadedWithAnimations);
 
+  const srcString = typeof props.src === 'string' ? props.src : undefined;
+  const useDirectStorage = DIRECT_STORAGE_IMAGES &&
+    Boolean(srcString) &&
+    isExternalStoragePhotoUrl(srcString!);
+  const displayWidth = typeof props.width === 'number' ? props.width : 640;
+  const directSrc = useDirectStorage && srcString && !fallbackSrc
+    ? getDirectPhotoDisplayUrl(srcString, displayWidth)
+    : undefined;
+  const resolvedSrc = fallbackSrc ?? directSrc ?? props.src;
+
   const onLoad = useCallback(() => setIsLoading(false), []);
-  const onError = useCallback(() => setDidError(true), []);
+  const onError = useCallback(() => {
+    if (useDirectStorage && srcString && !fallbackSrc) {
+      setFallbackSrc(srcString);
+      setIsLoading(true);
+    } else {
+      setDidError(true);
+    }
+  }, [fallbackSrc, srcString, useDirectStorage]);
 
   useEffect(() => {
     if (
@@ -61,6 +83,8 @@ export default function ImageWithFallback({
     >
       <Image ref={refProp ?? ref} {...{
         ...props,
+        src: resolvedSrc,
+        unoptimized: useDirectStorage,
         priority,
         className: classNameImage,
         onLoad,
diff --git a/src/photo/storage/index.ts b/src/photo/storage/index.ts
index 48d77ad4..c375f1a8 100644
--- a/src/photo/storage/index.ts
+++ b/src/photo/storage/index.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { DIRECT_STORAGE_IMAGES } from '@/app/config';
 import {
   getNextImageUrlForRequest,
   NextImageSize,
@@ -9,6 +10,9 @@ import {
   getStorageUrlsForPrefix,
   uploadFileFromClient,
 } from '@/platforms/storage';
+import { isUrlFromAwsS3 } from '@/platforms/storage/aws-s3';
+import { isUrlFromCloudflareR2 } from '@/platforms/storage/cloudflare-r2';
+import { isUrlFromMinio } from '@/platforms/storage/minio';
 import { Photo } from '..';
 import { fetchBase64ImageFromUrl } from '@/utility/image';
 
@@ -98,12 +102,36 @@ const getSuffixFromNextImageSize = (nextSize: NextImageSize) =>
   OPTIMIZED_FILE_SIZES.find(({ size }) => size === nextSize)?.suffix
     ?? OPTIMIZED_SUFFIX_DEFAULT;
 
+export const isExternalStoragePhotoUrl = (url: string) =>
+  isUrlFromCloudflareR2(url) ||
+  isUrlFromAwsS3(url) ||
+  isUrlFromMinio(url);
+
+const getNextImageSizeForDisplayWidth = (displayWidth: number): NextImageSize => {
+  if (displayWidth <= 200) { return 200; }
+  if (displayWidth <= 640) { return 640; }
+  if (displayWidth <= 1080) { return 1080; }
+  if (displayWidth <= 1200) { return 1200; }
+  return 1920;
+};
+
+/** Public CDN URL for a photo (e.g. R2 -md/-sm), not /_next/image. */
+export const getDirectPhotoDisplayUrl = (
+  imageUrl: string,
+  displayWidth: number,
+) =>
+  getOptimizedPhotoUrl({
+    imageUrl,
+    size: getNextImageSizeForDisplayWidth(displayWidth),
+    useNextImage: false,
+  });
+
 export const getOptimizedPhotoUrl = (
   args: Parameters<typeof getNextImageUrlForRequest>[0] & {
     useNextImage?: boolean
   },
 ) => {
-  const { useNextImage = true } = args;
+  const { useNextImage = !DIRECT_STORAGE_IMAGES } = args;
   const suffix = getSuffixFromNextImageSize(args.size);
   const {
     urlBase,