diff --git a/app/assets/stylesheets/api/media.scss b/app/assets/stylesheets/api/media.scss
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e3c4fac3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/assets/stylesheets/api/media.scss
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+// Place all the styles related to the Api::Media controller here.
+// They will automatically be included in application.css.
+// You can use Sass (SCSS) here: http://sass-lang.com/
diff --git a/app/controllers/api/media_controller.rb b/app/controllers/api/media_controller.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d5a0a124a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/controllers/api/media_controller.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+class Api::MediaController < ApiController
+  before_action :doorkeeper_authorize!
+  respond_to    :json
+
+  def create
+    @media = MediaAttachment.create!(account: current_user.account, file: params[:file])
+  end
+end
diff --git a/app/helpers/api/media_helper.rb b/app/helpers/api/media_helper.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ecaa91e7b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/helpers/api/media_helper.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+module Api::MediaHelper
+end
diff --git a/app/models/account.rb b/app/models/account.rb
index bcd6c1eba..8e0283ca1 100644
--- a/app/models/account.rb
+++ b/app/models/account.rb
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ class Account < ApplicationRecord
   has_many :following, through: :active_relationships,  source: :target_account
   has_many :followers, through: :passive_relationships, source: :account
 
+  has_many :media_attachments, dependent: :destroy
+
   MENTION_RE = /(?:^|\s|\.)@([a-z0-9_]+(?:@[a-z0-9\.\-]+)?)/i
 
   def follow!(other_account)
diff --git a/app/models/media_attachment.rb b/app/models/media_attachment.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..af1a4b9af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/models/media_attachment.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+class MediaAttachment < ApplicationRecord
+  belongs_to :account, inverse_of: :media_attachments
+  belongs_to :status,  inverse_of: :media_attachments
+
+  has_attached_file :file
+  validates_attachment_content_type :file, content_type: /\Aimage\/.*\z/
+
+  validates :account, presence: true
+
+  def local?
+    self.remote_url.blank?
+  end
+end
diff --git a/app/models/status.rb b/app/models/status.rb
index 14a698aae..05ae1a06e 100644
--- a/app/models/status.rb
+++ b/app/models/status.rb
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ class Status < ApplicationRecord
   has_many :reblogs, foreign_key: 'reblog_of_id', class_name: 'Status', inverse_of: :reblog, dependent: :destroy
   has_many :replies, foreign_key: 'in_reply_to_id', class_name: 'Status', inverse_of: :thread
   has_many :mentions, dependent: :destroy
+  has_many :media_attachments, dependent: :destroy
 
   validates :account, presence: true
   validates :uri, uniqueness: true, unless: 'local?'
diff --git a/app/views/api/media/create.rabl b/app/views/api/media/create.rabl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..23909066d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/views/api/media/create.rabl
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+object @media
+attribute :id
+node(:url) { |media| full_asset_url(media.file.url) }
diff --git a/config/environments/test.rb b/config/environments/test.rb
index fea1c51fd..1855aadf2 100644
--- a/config/environments/test.rb
+++ b/config/environments/test.rb
@@ -41,3 +41,5 @@ Rails.application.configure do
   # Raises error for missing translations
   # config.action_view.raise_on_missing_translations = true
 end
+
+Paperclip::Attachment.default_options[:path] = "#{Rails.root}/spec/test_files/:class/:id_partition/:style.:extension"
diff --git a/config/routes.rb b/config/routes.rb
index 7b6b1ab3a..918eb7347 100644
--- a/config/routes.rb
+++ b/config/routes.rb
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ Rails.application.routes.draw do
     end
 
     resources :follows,  only: [:create]
+    resources :media,    only: [:create]
 
     resources :accounts, only: [:show] do
       collection do
diff --git a/db/migrate/20160905150353_create_media_attachments.rb b/db/migrate/20160905150353_create_media_attachments.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..32d0897d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/migrate/20160905150353_create_media_attachments.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+class CreateMediaAttachments < ActiveRecord::Migration[5.0]
+  def change
+    create_table :media_attachments do |t|
+      t.integer :status_id, null: true, default: nil
+      t.attachment :file
+      t.string :remote_url, null: false, default: ''
+      t.integer :account_id
+
+      t.timestamps
+    end
+
+    add_index :media_attachments, :status_id
+  end
+end
diff --git a/db/schema.rb b/db/schema.rb
index b63df0fea..4a3078e64 100644
--- a/db/schema.rb
+++ b/db/schema.rb
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 #
 # It's strongly recommended that you check this file into your version control system.
 
-ActiveRecord::Schema.define(version: 20160826155805) do
+ActiveRecord::Schema.define(version: 20160905150353) do
 
   # These are extensions that must be enabled in order to support this database
   enable_extension "plpgsql"
@@ -59,6 +59,19 @@ ActiveRecord::Schema.define(version: 20160826155805) do
     t.index ["account_id", "target_account_id"], name: "index_follows_on_account_id_and_target_account_id", unique: true, using: :btree
   end
 
+  create_table "media_attachments", force: :cascade do |t|
+    t.integer  "status_id"
+    t.string   "file_file_name"
+    t.string   "file_content_type"
+    t.integer  "file_file_size"
+    t.datetime "file_updated_at"
+    t.string   "remote_url",        default: "", null: false
+    t.integer  "account_id"
+    t.datetime "created_at",                     null: false
+    t.datetime "updated_at",                     null: false
+    t.index ["status_id"], name: "index_media_attachments_on_status_id", using: :btree
+  end
+
   create_table "mentions", force: :cascade do |t|
     t.integer  "account_id"
     t.integer  "status_id"
diff --git a/spec/controllers/api/media_controller_spec.rb b/spec/controllers/api/media_controller_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2f216c1d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/controllers/api/media_controller_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+require 'rails_helper'
+
+RSpec.describe Api::MediaController, type: :controller do
+  render_views
+
+  let(:user)  { Fabricate(:user, account: Fabricate(:account, username: 'alice')) }
+  let(:token) { double acceptable?: true, resource_owner_id: user.id }
+
+  before do
+    allow(controller).to receive(:doorkeeper_token) { token }
+  end
+
+  describe 'POST #create' do
+    before do
+      post :create, params: { file: fixture_file_upload('files/attachment.jpg', 'image/jpeg') }
+    end
+
+    it 'returns http success' do
+      expect(response).to have_http_status(:success)
+    end
+
+    it 'creates a media attachment' do
+      expect(MediaAttachment.first).to_not be_nil
+    end
+
+    it 'uploads a file' do
+      expect(MediaAttachment.first).to have_attached_file(:file)
+    end
+
+    it 'returns media ID in JSON' do
+      expect(body_as_json[:id]).to eq MediaAttachment.first.id
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/controllers/api/statuses_controller_spec.rb b/spec/controllers/api/statuses_controller_spec.rb
index 15fdbdaff..64e201f3c 100644
--- a/spec/controllers/api/statuses_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/controllers/api/statuses_controller_spec.rb
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ RSpec.describe Api::StatusesController, type: :controller do
     end
 
     it 'return json with updated attributes' do
-      hash_body = JSON.parse(response.body).with_indifferent_access
+      hash_body = body_as_json
 
       expect(hash_body[:reblog][:id]).to eq status.id
       expect(hash_body[:reblog][:reblogs_count]).to eq 1
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ RSpec.describe Api::StatusesController, type: :controller do
     end
 
     it 'return json with updated attributes' do
-      hash_body = JSON.parse(response.body).with_indifferent_access
+      hash_body = body_as_json
 
       expect(hash_body[:id]).to eq status.id
       expect(hash_body[:favourites_count]).to eq 1
diff --git a/spec/fabricators/media_attachment_fabricator.rb b/spec/fabricators/media_attachment_fabricator.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..42aa5ab02
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fabricators/media_attachment_fabricator.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+Fabricator(:media_attachment) do
+  status_id  1
+  file       ""
+  remote_url "MyString"
+  account_id 1
+end
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/files/attachment.jpg b/spec/fixtures/files/attachment.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f1d40539a
Binary files /dev/null and b/spec/fixtures/files/attachment.jpg differ
diff --git a/spec/helpers/api/media_helper_spec.rb b/spec/helpers/api/media_helper_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5813264ad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/helpers/api/media_helper_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+require 'rails_helper'
+
+# Specs in this file have access to a helper object that includes
+# the Api::MediaHelper. For example:
+#
+# describe Api::MediaHelper do
+#   describe "string concat" do
+#     it "concats two strings with spaces" do
+#       expect(helper.concat_strings("this","that")).to eq("this that")
+#     end
+#   end
+# end
+RSpec.describe Api::MediaHelper, type: :helper do
+  pending "add some examples to (or delete) #{__FILE__}"
+end
diff --git a/spec/models/media_attachment_spec.rb b/spec/models/media_attachment_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0a1627684
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/models/media_attachment_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+require 'rails_helper'
+
+RSpec.describe MediaAttachment, type: :model do
+  pending "add some examples to (or delete) #{__FILE__}"
+end
diff --git a/spec/rails_helper.rb b/spec/rails_helper.rb
index e9c732f6f..3c810eb9e 100644
--- a/spec/rails_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/rails_helper.rb
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ abort("The Rails environment is running in production mode!") if Rails.env.produ
 require 'spec_helper'
 require 'rspec/rails'
 require 'webmock/rspec'
+require 'paperclip/matchers'
 
 ActiveRecord::Migration.maintain_test_schema!
 WebMock.disable_net_connect!
@@ -19,6 +20,7 @@ RSpec.configure do |config|
 
   config.include Devise::Test::ControllerHelpers, type: :controller
   config.include Devise::TestHelpers, type: :view
+  config.include Paperclip::Shoulda::Matchers
 end
 
 RSpec::Sidekiq.configure do |config|
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index d6c1dc95b..8d77b39f3 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -12,4 +12,16 @@ RSpec.configure do |config|
   config.mock_with :rspec do |mocks|
     mocks.verify_partial_doubles = true
   end
+
+  config.after(:suite) do
+    FileUtils.rm_rf(Dir["#{Rails.root}/spec/test_files/"])
+  end
+end
+
+def body_as_json
+  json_str_to_hash(response.body)
+end
+
+def json_str_to_hash(str)
+  JSON.parse(str).with_indifferent_access
 end