diff --git a/photoapp/api.py b/photoapp/api.py
index f3554c7..08071e2 100644
--- a/photoapp/api.py
+++ b/photoapp/api.py
@@ -5,80 +5,12 @@ from datetime import datetime
 from photoapp.types import Photo, PhotoSet, Tag, PhotoStatus, User, known_extensions, known_mimes, genuuid
 from photoapp.utils import copysha, get_extension
 from photoapp.image import special_magic_fobj
+from photoapp.storage import StorageAdapter
 from photoapp.dbutils import db
 from contextlib import closing
 import traceback
 
 
-class StorageAdapter(object):
-    """
-    Abstract interface for working with photo file storage. All paths are relative to the storage adapter's root param.
-    """
-
-    def exists(self, path):
-        # TODO return true/false if the file path exists
-        raise NotImplementedError()
-
-    def open(self, path, mode):
-        # TODO return a handle to the path
-        # TODO this should work as a context manager
-        raise NotImplementedError()
-
-    def delete(self, path):
-        # TODO erase the path
-        raise NotImplementedError()
-
-    def getsize(self, path):
-        raise NotImplementedError()
-
-
-class FilesystemAdapter(StorageAdapter):
-    def __init__(self, root):
-        super().__init__()
-        self.root = root  # root path
-
-    def exists(self, path):
-        # TODO return true/false if the file path exists
-        return os.path.exists(self._abspath(path))
-
-    def open(self, path, mode):
-        # TODO return a handle to the path. this should work as a context manager
-        os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(self._abspath(path)), exist_ok=True)
-        return open(self._abspath(path), mode)
-
-    def delete(self, path):
-        # TODO delete the file
-        # TODO prune empty directories that were components of $path
-        os.unlink(self._abspath(path))
-
-    def getsize(self, path):
-        return os.path.getsize(self._abspath(path))
-
-    def _abspath(self, path):
-        return os.path.join(self.root, path)
-
-
-class S3Adapter(StorageAdapter):
-    def exists(self, path):
-        # TODO return true/false if the file path exists
-        raise NotImplementedError()
-
-    def open(self, path, mode):
-        # TODO return a handle to the path. this should work as a context manager
-        raise NotImplementedError()
-
-    def delete(self, path):
-        # TODO erase the path
-        raise NotImplementedError()
-
-    def getsize(self, path):
-        raise NotImplementedError()
-
-
-class GfapiAdapter(StorageAdapter):
-    pass   # TODO gluster storage backend
-
-
 class LibraryManager(object):
     def __init__(self, storage):
         assert isinstance(storage, StorageAdapter)
diff --git a/photoapp/daemon.py b/photoapp/daemon.py
index f8ce0fb..6e33b9c 100644
--- a/photoapp/daemon.py
+++ b/photoapp/daemon.py
@@ -7,9 +7,11 @@ from datetime import datetime, timedelta
 from photoapp.thumb import ThumbGenerator
 from photoapp.types import Photo, PhotoSet, Tag, TagItem, PhotoStatus, User
 from photoapp.common import pwhash
-from photoapp.api import PhotosApi, LibraryManager, FilesystemAdapter
+from photoapp.api import PhotosApi, LibraryManager
+from photoapp.storage import FilesystemAdapter
 from photoapp.dbutils import SAEnginePlugin, SATool, db, get_db_engine
 from photoapp.utils import mime2ext, auth, require_auth, photoset_auth_filter, slugify
+from photoapp.storage import uri_to_storage
 from jinja2 import Environment, FileSystemLoader, select_autoescape
 from sqlalchemy import desc, func, and_, or_
 
@@ -438,7 +440,7 @@ def main():
     SAEnginePlugin(cherrypy.engine, engine).subscribe()
 
     # Create various internal tools
-    library_storage = FilesystemAdapter(args.library)
+    library_storage = uri_to_storage(args.library)
     library_manager = LibraryManager(library_storage)
     thumbnail_tool = ThumbGenerator(library_manager, args.cache)
 
diff --git a/photoapp/image.py b/photoapp/image.py
index 04f5735..8f07587 100644
--- a/photoapp/image.py
+++ b/photoapp/image.py
@@ -121,7 +121,6 @@ def special_magic_fobj(fobj, fname):
     if fname.split(".")[-1].lower() == "xmp":
         return "application/octet-stream-xmp"
     else:
-        fobj.seek(0)
         return magic.from_buffer(fobj.read(1024), mime=True)
 
 
diff --git a/photoapp/storage.py b/photoapp/storage.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8c4175a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/photoapp/storage.py
@@ -0,0 +1,210 @@
+from urllib.parse import urlparse
+import boto3
+from botocore.client import Config as BotoConfig
+import os
+from botocore.exceptions import ClientError
+from queue import Queue
+from threading import Thread
+
+
+def uri_to_storage(uri):
+    parsed = urlparse(uri)
+    for schemes, backend in {("file", ): FilesystemAdapter,
+                             ("minio", "minios", ): MinioAdapter}.items():
+        if parsed.scheme in schemes:
+            return backend.from_uri(parsed)
+    raise Exception(f"Unknown storage backend '{parsed.scheme}'")
+
+
+class StorageAdapter(object):
+    """
+    Abstract interface for working with photo file storage. All paths are relative to the storage adapter's root param.
+    """
+
+    def exists(self, path):
+        # return true/false if the file path exists
+        raise NotImplementedError()
+
+    def open(self, path, mode):
+        # return a handle to the path
+        raise NotImplementedError()
+
+    def delete(self, path):
+        # erase the path
+        raise NotImplementedError()
+
+    def getsize(self, path):
+        # return the number of bytes contained at the path
+        raise NotImplementedError()
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def from_uri(uri):
+        # return an instance of the storage class backed by the passed URI
+        raise NotImplementedError()
+
+
+class FilesystemAdapter(StorageAdapter):
+    def __init__(self, root):
+        super().__init__()
+        self.root = root  # root path
+
+    def exists(self, path):
+        # TODO return true/false if the file path exists
+        return os.path.exists(self._abspath(path))
+
+    def open(self, path, mode):
+        # TODO return a handle to the path. this should work as a context manager
+        os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(self._abspath(path)), exist_ok=True)
+        return open(self._abspath(path), mode)
+
+    def delete(self, path):
+        # TODO delete the file
+        # TODO prune empty directories that were components of $path
+        os.unlink(self._abspath(path))
+
+    def getsize(self, path):
+        return os.path.getsize(self._abspath(path))
+
+    def _abspath(self, path):
+        return os.path.join(self.root, path)
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def from_uri(uri):
+        relative = True if uri.netloc and uri.netloc in (".", "localhost") else False
+        path = uri.path[1:] if relative else (uri.netloc + uri.path)
+        return FilesystemAdapter(os.path.abspath(path))
+
+
+class S3WriteProxy(object):
+    def __init__(self, storage, key):
+        """
+        A file-like class that accepts writes (until the writer closes me) and accepts reads (until closed)
+        """
+        self.storage = storage
+        self.key = key
+        self.q = Queue(maxsize=1024)  # number of $os write sizes to buffer
+        self.leftovers = None
+        self.closed = False
+        self.eof = False
+        self.s3_upload = Thread(target=self._upload)
+        self.s3_upload.start()
+
+    def _upload(self):
+        self.storage.s3.upload_fileobj(Fileobj=self,
+                                       Bucket=self.storage.bucket,
+                                       Key=self.key)
+
+    def write(self, data):
+        if self.closed:
+            raise Exception(f"cant write to a closed {self.__class__}")
+        self.q.put(data)
+
+    def read(self, size=0):
+        if self.eof:
+            return b''
+        buf = self.leftovers if self.leftovers else b''
+        while True:
+            p = self.q.get()
+            if not p:
+                self.eof = True
+                break
+            buf += p
+            if len(buf) >= size:
+                break
+        if len(buf) > size:
+            self.leftovers = buf[size:]
+            buf = buf[0:size]
+        else:
+            self.leftovers = None
+
+        return buf
+
+    def close(self):
+        self.closed = True
+        self.q.put(None)
+        self.s3_upload.join()
+
+    def __enter__(self, *args):
+        raise Exception("who called me?")
+
+
+class S3ReadProxy(object):
+    def __init__(self, s3obj):
+        self.obj = s3obj
+
+    def close(self):
+        self.obj.close()
+
+    def read(self, size=None):
+        return self.obj.read(size)
+
+    def __enter__(self):
+        return self
+
+    def __exit__(self, type, value, traceback):
+        self.obj.close()
+
+
+class MinioAdapter(StorageAdapter):
+    def __init__(self, s3, bucket, prefix):
+        self.s3 = s3
+        self.bucket = bucket
+        self.prefix = prefix
+
+        try:
+            self.s3.get_bucket_location(Bucket=self.bucket)
+        except Exception:
+            self.s3.create_bucket(Bucket=self.bucket)
+
+    def exists(self, path):
+        try:
+            self.s3.get_object(Bucket=self.bucket, Key=os.path.join(self.prefix, path))
+            return True
+        except ClientError as ce:
+            if ce.response['Error']['Code'] == 'NoSuchKey':
+                return False
+            raise
+
+    def open(self, path, mode):
+        # TODO return a handle to the path. this should work as a context manager
+        if "r" in mode:
+            return S3ReadProxy(self.s3.get_object(Bucket=self.bucket, Key=os.path.join(self.prefix, path))["Body"])
+        elif "w" in mode:
+            return S3WriteProxy(self, os.path.join(self.prefix, path))
+        else:
+            raise Exception("unknown file open mode")
+
+    def delete(self, path):
+        # TODO handle verification of return status
+        self.s3.delete_object(Bucket=self.bucket, Key=os.path.join(self.prefix, path))
+
+    def getsize(self, path):
+        return self.s3.head_object(Bucket=self.bucket, Key=os.path.join(self.prefix, path))["ContentLength"]
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def from_uri(uri):
+        secure = uri.scheme.endswith("s")
+
+        s3args = {"config": BotoConfig(signature_version='s3v4')}
+
+        endpoint_url = f"http{'s' if secure else ''}://{uri.hostname}"
+        if uri.port:
+            endpoint_url += f":{uri.port}"
+        s3args["endpoint_url"] = endpoint_url
+
+        if uri.username and uri.password:
+            s3args["aws_access_key_id"] = uri.username
+            s3args["aws_secret_access_key"] = uri.password
+
+        s3 = boto3.client('s3', **s3args)
+        bucketpath = uri.path[1:]
+
+        splitted = bucketpath.split("/", 1)
+        bucket = splitted.pop(0)
+        prefix = splitted[0].lstrip("/") if splitted else ''
+
+        return MinioAdapter(s3, bucket, prefix)
+
+
+class GfapiAdapter(StorageAdapter):
+    pass   # TODO gluster storage backend
diff --git a/photoapp/thumb.py b/photoapp/thumb.py
index 1adf0e4..7bffe1c 100644
--- a/photoapp/thumb.py
+++ b/photoapp/thumb.py
@@ -53,8 +53,9 @@ class ThumbGenerator(object):
             # TODO have the subprocess download the file
             with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmpdir:
                 fpath = os.path.join(tmpdir, "image")
-                with self.library.storage.open(photo.path, 'rb') as fsrc, open(fpath, 'wb') as fdest:
-                    copyfileobj(fsrc, fdest)
+                with self.library.storage.open(photo.path, 'rb') as fsrc:
+                    with open(fpath, 'wb') as fdest:
+                        copyfileobj(fsrc, fdest)
 
                 p = Process(target=self.gen_thumb, args=(fpath, dest, thumb_width, thumb_height, photo.orientation))
                 p.start()
diff --git a/photoapp/utils.py b/photoapp/utils.py
index f6028ce..fa4dc5a 100644
--- a/photoapp/utils.py
+++ b/photoapp/utils.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import hashlib
 def copysha(fpin, fpout):
     sha = hashlib.sha256()
     while True:
-        b = fpin.read(4096)
+        b = fpin.read(1024 * 256)
         if not b:
             break
         fpout.write(b)
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 4deb51f..23bef51 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,19 +1,25 @@
 backports.functools-lru-cache==1.5
+boto3==1.9.183
+botocore==1.12.183
 certifi==2019.6.16
 chardet==3.0.4
 cheroot==6.5.2
 CherryPy==18.1.2
 contextlib2==0.5.5
+docutils==0.14
 idna==2.8
 jaraco.functools==1.20
 Jinja2==2.10.1
+jmespath==0.9.4
 MarkupSafe==1.0
 more-itertools==4.3.0
 Pillow==5.2.0
 portend==2.3
+python-dateutil==2.8.0
 python-magic==0.4.15
 pytz==2018.5
 requests==2.22.0
+s3transfer==0.2.1
 six==1.11.0
 SQLAlchemy==1.3.5
 tabulate==0.8.3