diff --git a/src/Module/Proxy.php b/src/Module/Proxy.php
index 29e0f4f52f..b975069e7a 100644
--- a/src/Module/Proxy.php
+++ b/src/Module/Proxy.php
@@ -19,6 +19,10 @@ use Friendica\Util\Proxy as ProxyUtils;
 
 /**
  * @brief Module Proxy
+ *
+ * urls:
+ * /proxy/[sub1/[sub2/]]<base64url image url>[.ext][:size]
+ * /proxy?url=<image url>
  */
 class Proxy extends BaseModule
 {
@@ -66,21 +70,102 @@ class Proxy extends BaseModule
 			header_remove('pragma');
 		}
 
-		$thumb = false;
-		$size = 1024;
-		$sizetype = '';
-		$basepath = $a->getBasePath();
+		$direct_cache = self::setupDirectCache();
 
-		// If the cache path isn't there, try to create it
-		if (!is_dir($basepath . '/proxy') && is_writable($basepath)) {
-			mkdir($basepath . '/proxy');
+		$request = self::getRequestInfo();
+
+		if (empty($request['url'])) {
+			System::httpExit(400, ['title' => L10n::t('Bad Request.')]);
 		}
 
-		// Checking if caching into a folder in the webroot is activated and working
-		$direct_cache = (is_dir($basepath . '/proxy') && is_writable($basepath . '/proxy'));
+		// Webserver already tried direct cache...
 
+		// Try to use filecache;
+		$cachefile = self::responseFromCache($request);
+
+		// Try to use photo from db
+		self::responseFromDB($request);
+
+
+		//
+		// If script is here, the requested url has never cached before.
+		// Let's fetch it, scale it if required, then save it in cache.
+		//
+
+
+		// It shouldn't happen but it does - spaces in URL
+		$request['url'] = str_replace(' ', '+', $request['url']);
+		$redirects = 0;
+		$fetchResult = Network::fetchUrlFull($request['url'], true, $redirects, 10);
+		$img_str = $fetchResult->getBody();
+
+		$tempfile = tempnam(get_temppath(), 'cache');
+		file_put_contents($tempfile, $img_str);
+		$mime = mime_content_type($tempfile);
+		unlink($tempfile);
+
+		// If there is an error then return a blank image
+		if ((substr($fetchResult->getReturnCode(), 0, 1) == '4') || (!$img_str)) {
+			self::responseError($request);
+			// stop.
+		}
+
+		$image = new Image($img_str, $mime);
+		if (!$image->isValid()) {
+			self::responseError($request);
+			// stop.
+		}
+		
+		// Store original image
+		if ($direct_cache) {
+			// direct cache , store under ./proxy/
+			file_put_contents($basepath . '/proxy/' . ProxyUtils::proxifyUrl($request['url'], true), $image->asString());
+		} elseif($cachefile !== '') {
+			// cache file
+			file_put_contents($cachefile, $image->asString());
+		} else {
+			// database
+			Photo::store($image, 0, 0, $request['urlhash'], $request['url'], '', 100);
+		}
+
+
+		// reduce quality - if it isn't a GIF
+		if ($image->getType() != 'image/gif') {
+			$image->scaleDown($request['size']);
+		}
+
+
+		// Store scaled image
+		if ($direct_cache && $request['sizetype'] != '') {
+			file_put_contents($basepath . '/proxy/' . ProxyUtils::proxifyUrl($request['url'], true) . $request['sizetype'], $image->asString());
+		}
+
+		self::responseImageHttpCache($image);
+		// stop.
+	}
+
+
+	/**
+	 * @brief Build info about requested image to be proxied
+	 *
+	 * @return array
+	 *    [
+	 *      'url' => requested url,
+	 *      'urlhash' => sha1 has of the url prefixed with 'pic:',
+	 *      'size' => requested image size (int)
+	 *      'sizetype' => requested image size (string): ':micro', ':thumb', ':small', ':medium', ':large'
+	 *    ]
+	 */
+	private static function getRequestInfo()
+	{
+		$a = self::getApp();
+		$url = '';
+		$size = 1024;
+		$sizetype = '';
+		
+		
 		// Look for filename in the arguments
-		if ((isset($a->argv[1]) || isset($a->argv[2]) || isset($a->argv[3])) && !isset($_REQUEST['url'])) {
+		if (($a->argc > 1) && !isset($_REQUEST['url'])) {
 			if (isset($a->argv[3])) {
 				$url = $a->argv[3];
 			} elseif (isset($a->argv[2])) {
@@ -89,6 +174,7 @@ class Proxy extends BaseModule
 				$url = $a->argv[1];
 			}
 
+			/// @TODO: Why? And what about $url in this case?
 			if (isset($a->argv[3]) && ($a->argv[3] == 'thumb')) {
 				$size = 200;
 			}
@@ -125,148 +211,108 @@ class Proxy extends BaseModule
 
 			$url = base64_decode(strtr($url, '-_', '+/'), true);
 
-			if ($url) {
-				$_REQUEST['url'] = $url;
-			}
 		} else {
-			$direct_cache = false;
+			$url = defaults($_REQUEST, 'url', '');
+		}
+		
+		return [
+			'url' => $url,
+			'urlhash' => 'pic:' . sha1($url),
+			'size' => $size,
+			'sizetype' => $sizetype,
+		];
+	}
+	
+	
+	/**
+	 * @brief setup ./proxy folder for direct cache
+	 *
+	 * @return bool  False if direct cache can't be used.
+	 */
+	private static function setupDirectCache()
+	{
+		$a = self::getApp();
+		$basepath = $a->getBasePath();
+
+		// If the cache path isn't there, try to create it
+		if (!is_dir($basepath . '/proxy') && is_writable($basepath)) {
+			mkdir($basepath . '/proxy');
 		}
 
-		if (empty($_REQUEST['url'])) {
-			System::httpExit(400, ["title" => L10n::t('Bad Request.')]);
+		// Checking if caching into a folder in the webroot is activated and working
+		$direct_cache = (is_dir($basepath . '/proxy') && is_writable($basepath . '/proxy'));
+		// we don't use direct cache if image url is passed in args and not in querystring 
+		$direct_cache = $direct_cache && ($a->argc > 1) && !isset($_REQUEST['url']);
+		
+		return $direct_cache;
+	}
+	
+	
+	/**
+	 * @brief Try to reply with image in cachefile
+	 *
+	 * @param array $request  Array from getRequestInfo
+	 *
+	 * @return string  Cache file name, empty string if cache is not enabled.
+	 * 
+	 * If cachefile exists, script ends here and this function will never returns
+	 */
+	private static function responseFromCache(&$request)
+	{
+		$cachefile = get_cachefile(hash('md5', $request['url']));
+		if ($cachefile != '' && file_exists($cachefile)) {
+			$img = new Image(file_get_contents($cachefile), mime_content_type($cachefile));
+			self::responseImageHttpCache($img);
+			// stop.
 		}
+		return $cachefile;
+	}
+	
+	/**
+	 * @brief Try to reply with image in database
+	 *
+	 * @param array $request  Array from getRequestInfo
+	 *
+	 * If the image exists in database, then script ends here and this function will never returns
+	 */
+	private static function responseFromDB(&$request) {
+	
+		$photo = Photo::getPhoto($request['urlhash']);
 
-		if (!$direct_cache) {
-			$urlhash = 'pic:' . sha1($_REQUEST['url']);
-
-			$cachefile = get_cachefile(hash('md5', $_REQUEST['url']));
-			if ($cachefile != '' && file_exists($cachefile)) {
-				$img_str = file_get_contents($cachefile);
-				$mime = mime_content_type($cachefile);
-
-				header('Content-type: ' . $mime);
-				header('Last-Modified: ' . gmdate('D, d M Y H:i:s', time()) . ' GMT');
-				header('Etag: "' . md5($img_str) . '"');
-				header('Expires: ' . gmdate('D, d M Y H:i:s', time() + (31536000)) . ' GMT');
-				header('Cache-Control: max-age=31536000');
-
-				// reduce quality - if it isn't a GIF
-				if ($mime != 'image/gif') {
-					$image = new Image($img_str, $mime);
-
-					if ($image->isValid()) {
-						$img_str = $image->asString();
-					}
-				}
-
-				echo $img_str;
-				exit();
-			}
-		} else {
-			$cachefile = '';
+		if ($photo !== false) {
+			$img = Photo::getImageForPhoto($photo);
+			self::responseImageHttpCache($img);
+			// stop.
 		}
-
-		$valid = true;
-		$photo = null;
-
-		if (!$direct_cache && ($cachefile == '')) {
-			$photo = DBA::selectFirst('photo', ['data', 'desc'], ['resource-id' => $urlhash]);
-
-			if (DBA::isResult($photo)) {
-				$img_str = $photo['data'];
-				$mime = $photo['desc'];
-
-				if ($mime == '') {
-					$mime = 'image/jpeg';
-				}
-			}
-		}
-
-		if (!DBA::isResult($photo)) {
-			// It shouldn't happen but it does - spaces in URL
-			$_REQUEST['url'] = str_replace(' ', '+', $_REQUEST['url']);
-			$redirects = 0;
-			$fetchResult = Network::fetchUrlFull($_REQUEST['url'], true, $redirects, 10);
-			$img_str = $fetchResult->getBody();
-
-			$tempfile = tempnam(get_temppath(), 'cache');
-			file_put_contents($tempfile, $img_str);
-			$mime = mime_content_type($tempfile);
-			unlink($tempfile);
-
-			// If there is an error then return a blank image
-			if ((substr($fetchResult->getReturnCode(), 0, 1) == '4') || (!$img_str)) {
-				$img_str = file_get_contents('images/blank.png');
-				$mime = 'image/png';
-				$cachefile = ''; // Clear the cachefile so that the dummy isn't stored
-				$valid = false;
-				$image = new Image($img_str, 'image/png');
-
-				if ($image->isValid()) {
-					$image->scaleDown(10);
-					$img_str = $image->asString();
-				}
-			} elseif ($mime != 'image/jpeg' && !$direct_cache && $cachefile == '') {
-				$image = @imagecreatefromstring($img_str);
-
-				if ($image === FALSE) {
-					die();
-				}
-
-				$fields = ['uid' => 0, 'contact-id' => 0, 'guid' => System::createGUID(), 'resource-id' => $urlhash, 'created' => DateTimeFormat::utcNow(), 'edited' => DateTimeFormat::utcNow(),
-					'filename' => basename($_REQUEST['url']), 'type' => '', 'album' => '', 'height' => imagesy($image), 'width' => imagesx($image),
-					'datasize' => 0, 'data' => $img_str, 'scale' => 100, 'profile' => 0,
-					'allow_cid' => '', 'allow_gid' => '', 'deny_cid' => '', 'deny_gid' => '', 'desc' => $mime];
-				DBA::insert('photo', $fields);
-			} else {
-				$image = new Image($img_str, $mime);
-
-				if ($image->isValid() && !$direct_cache && ($cachefile == '')) {
-					Photo::store($image, 0, 0, $urlhash, $_REQUEST['url'], '', 100);
-				}
-			}
-		}
-
-		$img_str_orig = $img_str;
-
-		// reduce quality - if it isn't a GIF
-		if ($mime != 'image/gif') {
-			$image = new Image($img_str, $mime);
-
-			if ($image->isValid()) {
-				$image->scaleDown($size);
-				$img_str = $image->asString();
-			}
-		}
-
-		/*
-		 * If there is a real existing directory then put the cache file there
-		 * advantage: real file access is really fast
-		 * Otherwise write in cachefile
-		 */
-		if ($valid && $direct_cache) {
-			file_put_contents($basepath . '/proxy/' . ProxyUtils::proxifyUrl($_REQUEST['url'], true), $img_str_orig);
-
-			if ($sizetype != '') {
-				file_put_contents($basepath . '/proxy/' . ProxyUtils::proxifyUrl($_REQUEST['url'], true) . $sizetype, $img_str);
-			}
-		} elseif ($cachefile != '') {
-			file_put_contents($cachefile, $img_str_orig);
-		}
-
-		header('Content-type: ' . $mime);
-
-		// Only output the cache headers when the file is valid
-		if ($valid) {
-			header('Last-Modified: ' . gmdate('D, d M Y H:i:s', time()) . ' GMT');
-			header('Etag: "' . md5($img_str) . '"');
-			header('Expires: ' . gmdate('D, d M Y H:i:s', time() + (31536000)) . ' GMT');
-			header('Cache-Control: max-age=31536000');
-		}
-
-		echo $img_str;
-
+	}
+	
+	/**
+	 * @brief Output a blank image, without cache headers, in case of errors
+	 *
+	 */
+	private static function responseError() {
+		header('Content-type: ' . $img->getType());
+		echo file_get_contents('images/blank.png');
+		exit();
+	}
+	
+	/**
+	 * @brief Output the image with cache headers
+	 *
+	 * @param Image $image
+	 */
+	private static function responseImageHttpCache(Image $img)
+	{
+		if (is_null($img) || !$img->isValid()) {
+			self::responseError();
+			// stop.
+		}
+		header('Content-type: ' . $img->getType());
+		header('Last-Modified: ' . gmdate('D, d M Y H:i:s', time()) . ' GMT');
+		header('Etag: "' . md5($img->asString()) . '"');
+		header('Expires: ' . gmdate('D, d M Y H:i:s', time() + (31536000)) . ' GMT');
+		header('Cache-Control: max-age=31536000');
+		echo $img->asString();
 		exit();
 	}
-
 }