diff --git a/lib/inat_inferrer.py b/lib/inat_inferrer.py
index 9aa6aa1..28f0cd6 100644
--- a/lib/inat_inferrer.py
+++ b/lib/inat_inferrer.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 import time
-import magic
 import tensorflow as tf
 import pandas as pd
 import h3
@@ -8,6 +7,14 @@
 import os
 import tifffile
 import numpy as np
+import urllib
+import hashlib
+import magic
+import aiohttp
+import aiofiles
+import aiofiles.os
+import asyncio
+
 from PIL import Image
 from lib.tf_gp_elev_model import TFGeoPriorModelElev
 from lib.vision_inferrer import VisionInferrer
@@ -610,6 +617,64 @@ def limit_leaf_scores_that_include_humans(self, leaf_scores):
         # otherwise return no results
         return leaf_scores.head(0)
 
+    async def embeddings_for_photos(self, photos):
+        response = {}
+        async with aiohttp.ClientSession() as session:
+            queue = asyncio.Queue()
+            workers = [asyncio.create_task(self.embeddings_worker_task(queue, response, session))
+                       for _ in range(5)]
+            for photo in photos:
+                queue.put_nowait(photo)
+            await queue.join()
+            for worker in workers:
+                worker.cancel()
+        return response
+
+    async def embeddings_worker_task(self, queue, response, session):
+        while not queue.empty():
+            photo = await queue.get()
+            try:
+                embedding = await self.embedding_for_photo(photo["url"], session)
+                response[photo["id"]] = embedding
+            finally:
+                queue.task_done()
+
+    async def embedding_for_photo(self, url, session):
+        if url is None:
+            return
+
+        try:
+            cache_path = await self.download_photo_async(url, session)
+            if cache_path is None:
+                return
+            image = InatInferrer.prepare_image_for_inference(cache_path)
+        except urllib.error.HTTPError:
+            return
+        return self.vision_inferrer.signature_for_image(image).tolist()
+
+    async def download_photo_async(self, url, session):
+        checksum = hashlib.md5(url.encode()).hexdigest()
+        cache_path = os.path.join(self.upload_folder, "download-" + checksum) + ".jpg"
+        if await aiofiles.os.path.exists(cache_path):
+            return cache_path
+        try:
+            async with session.get(url, timeout=10) as resp:
+                if resp.status == 200:
+                    f = await aiofiles.open(cache_path, mode="wb")
+                    await f.write(await resp.read())
+                    await f.close()
+        except asyncio.TimeoutError as e:
+            print("`download_photo_async` timed out")
+            print(e)
+        if not os.path.exists(cache_path):
+            return
+        mime_type = magic.from_file(cache_path, mime=True)
+        if mime_type != "image/jpeg":
+            im = Image.open(cache_path)
+            rgb_im = im.convert("RGB")
+            rgb_im.save(cache_path)
+        return cache_path
+
     @staticmethod
     def prepare_image_for_inference(file_path):
         image = Image.open(file_path)
diff --git a/lib/inat_vision_api.py b/lib/inat_vision_api.py
index 3dde5fe..a13b607 100644
--- a/lib/inat_vision_api.py
+++ b/lib/inat_vision_api.py
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@ def __init__(self, config):
                               self.h3_04_bounds_route, methods=["GET"])
         self.app.add_url_rule("/geo_scores_for_taxa", "geo_scores_for_taxa",
                               self.geo_scores_for_taxa_route, methods=["POST"])
+        self.app.add_url_rule("/embeddings_for_photos", "embeddings_for_photos",
+                              self.embeddings_for_photos_route, methods=["POST"])
         self.app.add_url_rule("/build_info", "build_info", self.build_info_route, methods=["GET"])
 
     def setup_inferrer(self, config):
@@ -96,6 +98,12 @@ def geo_scores_for_taxa_route(self):
             for obs in request.json["observations"]
         }
 
+    async def embeddings_for_photos_route(self):
+        start_time = time.time()
+        response = await self.inferrer.embeddings_for_photos(request.json["photos"])
+        print("embeddings_for_photos_route Time: %0.2fms" % ((time.time() - start_time) * 1000.))
+        return response
+
     def index_route(self):
         form = ImageForm()
         if "observation_id" in request.args:
diff --git a/lib/vision_inferrer.py b/lib/vision_inferrer.py
index a81e8ee..9654ef8 100644
--- a/lib/vision_inferrer.py
+++ b/lib/vision_inferrer.py
@@ -16,8 +16,16 @@ def prepare_tf_model(self):
             assert device.device_type != "GPU"
 
         self.vision_model = tf.keras.models.load_model(self.model_path, compile=False)
+        self.signature_model = tf.keras.Model(
+            inputs=self.vision_model.inputs,
+            outputs=self.vision_model.get_layer("global_average_pooling2d_5").output
+        )
+        self.signature_model.compile()
 
     # given an image object (usually coming from prepare_image_for_inference),
     # calculate vision results for the image
     def process_image(self, image):
         return self.vision_model(tf.convert_to_tensor(image), training=False)[0]
+
+    def signature_for_image(self, image):
+        return self.signature_model(tf.convert_to_tensor(image), training=False)[0].numpy()