diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index eeec7040..58fdfce6 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -113,6 +113,7 @@ Application behavior can be changed by configuring the following environment var
 - `NEXT_PUBLIC_HIDE_TITLE_FALLBACK_TEXT = 1` prevents showing "Untitled" for photos without titles
 - `NEXT_PUBLIC_IGNORE_PRIORITY_ORDER = 1` prevents `priority_order` field affecting photo order
 - `NEXT_PUBLIC_PUBLIC_API = 1` enables public API available at `/api`
+- `NEXT_PUBLIC_ALLOW_PUBLIC_DOWNLOADS = 1` enables public image downloads
 - `NEXT_PUBLIC_HIDE_REPO_LINK = 1` removes footer link to repo
 - `NEXT_PUBLIC_HIDE_SOCIAL = 1` removes X button from share modal
 - `NEXT_PUBLIC_HIDE_FILM_SIMULATIONS = 1` prevents Fujifilm simulations showing up in `/grid` sidebar and CMD-K search results
diff --git a/src/components/DownloadButton.tsx b/src/components/DownloadButton.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8219bf4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/DownloadButton.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+import { MdOutlineFileDownload } from 'react-icons/md';
+import PathLoaderButton from './primitives/PathLoaderButton';
+import { clsx } from 'clsx/lite';
+import { Photo } from '@/photo';
+
+export default function DownloadButton({
+  photo,
+  dim,
+  className,
+}: {
+  photo: Photo
+  dim?: boolean
+  className?: string
+}) {
+  const {url, title} = photo;
+
+  return (
+    <PathLoaderButton
+      path={url}
+      className={clsx(
+        className,
+        dim ? 'text-dim' : 'text-medium',
+        '-mx-0.5 translate-x-0.5',
+        'sm:mx-0 sm:translate-x-0'
+      )}
+      icon={<MdOutlineFileDownload size={16} />}
+      spinnerColor='dim'
+      styleAs='link'
+      shouldReplace
+      handleAction={async () => {
+        const response = await fetch(url);
+        const blob = await response.blob();
+        const downloadUrl = window.URL.createObjectURL(blob);
+        const link = document.createElement('a');
+        link.href = downloadUrl;
+        link.download = title
+          ? title.replace(/[^a-z0-9]/gi, '_').toLowerCase()
+          : url.split('/').pop() || 'download';
+        document.body.appendChild(link);
+        link.click();
+        document.body.removeChild(link);
+        window.URL.revokeObjectURL(downloadUrl);
+      }}
+    />
+  );
+}
diff --git a/src/components/primitives/PathLoaderButton.tsx b/src/components/primitives/PathLoaderButton.tsx
index 27a4efa8..79c1af06 100644
--- a/src/components/primitives/PathLoaderButton.tsx
+++ b/src/components/primitives/PathLoaderButton.tsx
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ export default function PathLoaderButton({
   loaderDelay = 100,
   shouldScroll = true,
   shouldReplace,
+  handleAction,
   children,
   ...props
 }: {
@@ -18,6 +19,7 @@ export default function PathLoaderButton({
   loaderDelay?: number
   shouldScroll?: boolean
   shouldReplace?: boolean
+  handleAction?: () => Promise<void>
 } & ComponentProps<typeof LoaderButton>) {
   const router = useRouter();
 
@@ -46,11 +48,15 @@ export default function PathLoaderButton({
     <LoaderButton
       {...props}
       onClick={() => {
-        startTransition(() => {
-          if (shouldReplace) {
-            router.replace(path, { scroll: shouldScroll });
+        startTransition(async () => {
+          if (handleAction) {
+            await handleAction();
           } else {
-            router.push(path, { scroll: shouldScroll });
+            if (shouldReplace) {
+              router.replace(path, { scroll: shouldScroll });
+            } else {
+              router.push(path, { scroll: shouldScroll });
+            }
           }
         });
       }}
diff --git a/src/photo/PhotoLarge.tsx b/src/photo/PhotoLarge.tsx
index cda6ac5b..be19eb82 100644
--- a/src/photo/PhotoLarge.tsx
+++ b/src/photo/PhotoLarge.tsx
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import {
 } from '@/site/paths';
 import PhotoTags from '@/tag/PhotoTags';
 import ShareButton from '@/components/ShareButton';
+import DownloadButton from '@/components/DownloadButton';
 import PhotoCamera from '../camera/PhotoCamera';
 import { cameraFromPhoto } from '@/camera';
 import PhotoFilmSimulation from '@/simulation/PhotoFilmSimulation';
@@ -28,6 +29,7 @@ import PhotoLink from './PhotoLink';
 import {
   SHOULD_PREFETCH_ALL_LINKS,
   SHOW_PHOTO_TITLE_FALLBACK_TEXT,
+  ALLOW_PUBLIC_DOWNLOADS,
 } from '@/site/config';
 import AdminPhotoMenuClient from '@/admin/AdminPhotoMenuClient';
 import { RevalidatePhoto } from './InfinitePhotoScroll';
@@ -228,6 +230,14 @@ export default function PhotoLarge({
                   !hasNonDateContent && isUserSignedIn && 'md:pr-7',
                 )}
               />
+              {ALLOW_PUBLIC_DOWNLOADS && 
+                <DownloadButton 
+                  className={clsx(
+                    'md:translate-x-[-2.5px]',
+                    'translate-y-[1.5px] md:translate-y-0',
+                  )}
+                  photo={photo} 
+                />}
               {shouldShare &&
                 <ShareButton
                   className={clsx(
diff --git a/src/site/SiteChecklistClient.tsx b/src/site/SiteChecklistClient.tsx
index 6d7a7686..cf73af5f 100644
--- a/src/site/SiteChecklistClient.tsx
+++ b/src/site/SiteChecklistClient.tsx
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ export default function SiteChecklistClient({
   aiTextAutoGeneratedFields,
   hasAiTextAutoGeneratedFields,
   isPublicApiEnabled,
+  isPublicDownloadsEnabled,
   isOgTextBottomAligned,
   gridAspectRatio,
   hasGridAspectRatio,
@@ -533,6 +534,15 @@ export default function SiteChecklistClient({
               a public API available at <code>/api</code>:
               {renderEnvVars(['NEXT_PUBLIC_PUBLIC_API'])}
             </ChecklistRow>
+            <ChecklistRow
+              title="Public downloads"
+              status={isPublicDownloadsEnabled}
+              optional
+            >
+              Set environment variable to {'"1"'} to enable
+              public downloads of photos:
+              {renderEnvVars(['NEXT_PUBLIC_ALLOW_PUBLIC_DOWNLOADS'])}
+            </ChecklistRow>
             <ChecklistRow
               title="Show repo link"
               status={showRepoLink}
diff --git a/src/site/config.ts b/src/site/config.ts
index 896b7d48..ccb1fe3f 100644
--- a/src/site/config.ts
+++ b/src/site/config.ts
@@ -149,6 +149,8 @@ export const PRIORITY_ORDER_ENABLED =
   process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_IGNORE_PRIORITY_ORDER !== '1';
 export const PUBLIC_API_ENABLED =
   process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_PUBLIC_API === '1';
+export const ALLOW_PUBLIC_DOWNLOADS = 
+  process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_ALLOW_PUBLIC_DOWNLOADS === '1';
 export const SHOW_REPO_LINK =
   process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_HIDE_REPO_LINK !== '1';
 export const SHOW_SOCIAL =
@@ -226,6 +228,7 @@ export const CONFIG_CHECKLIST_STATUS = {
     Boolean(process.env.AI_TEXT_AUTO_GENERATED_FIELDS),
   isPriorityOrderEnabled: PRIORITY_ORDER_ENABLED,
   isPublicApiEnabled: PUBLIC_API_ENABLED,
+  isPublicDownloadsEnabled: ALLOW_PUBLIC_DOWNLOADS,
   isOgTextBottomAligned: OG_TEXT_BOTTOM_ALIGNMENT,
   gridAspectRatio: GRID_ASPECT_RATIO,
   hasGridAspectRatio: Boolean(process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_GRID_ASPECT_RATIO),