LibGuides: Visual Culture: Images

Recommended: ARTstor Digital Library

ARTstor Digital Library This link opens in a new window
A nonprofit digital library of more than one million images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and social sciences.
The following system configurations are recommended for the optimal use of the ARTstor Digital Library: A high-speed internet connection; Java version 1.3 or later installed on your browser (Mac users accessing ARTstor through Innovative Proxy must have Java version 1.5 or later); Flash Player version 6.0 or later installed; Pop-up blockers are either disabled or configured to allow pop-up windows from www.artstor.org; Cookies are enabled in your browser; Monitor resolution is set at 1280 x 1024 pixels or higher; Screen colours are set to True Colour (32 bit) or better.

Recommended: Oxford Art Online

Oxford Art Online: Images
Over 6,000 images from organizations such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as 40,000 editorially selected image links to museums and galleries.

Find Images with Library Databases

You can find images within these library databases.

ARTstor Digital Library This link opens in a new window
A digital library of more than one million images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and social sciences with software tools to view, present, and manage images. The following are required to access the ARTstor Digital Library images and tools:
- A high-speed internet connection
- Flash Player (free)
- An up-to-date version of Java
- Popups must be allowed
- Cookies must be enabled
- A monitor resolution of at least 1280 x 1024 pixels
- Set screen colors to True Color (32 bit) or better
The following system configurations are recommended for the optimal use of the ARTstor Digital Library: A high-speed internet connection; Java version 1.3 or later installed on your browser (Mac users accessing ARTstor through Innovative Proxy must have Java version 1.5 or later); Flash Player version 6.0 or later installed; Pop-up blockers are either disabled or configured to allow pop-up windows from www.artstor.org; Cookies are enabled in your browser; Monitor resolution is set at 1280 x 1024 pixels or higher; Screen colours are set to True Colour (32 bit) or better.
Berg Fashion Library This link opens in a new window
Includes a colour image bank of over 7,000 images, from the Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion; the Victoria and Albert Museum's fashion collection; the MoMu Fashion Museum; the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute...
Encyclopedia Britannica Academic Edition This link opens in a new window
Britannica Online is continually updated to provide the most current information possible. Includes the complete print edition plus thousands of additional articles and images. Search or browse A-Z.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
After performing a search of the journal articles in JSTOR, you can limit your results list to include "Only results with images".
Vogue Archive (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
The entire run of Vogue magazine (US edition), from the first issue in 1892 to the current month, reproduced in high-resolution colour page images.
Every page, advertisement, cover and fold-out is included, with rich indexing enabling you to find images by garment type, designer and brand names. The Archive is a rich source of the history of fashion and also for other areas of modern culture, providing a record of changing social tastes, mores and aspirations in the modern world.
Oxford Art Online This link opens in a new window
Includes Grove Art Online, and over 5,000 art images and line drawings with links to more.
A tutorial for this database is available here.

Find Images Online

Find digital images of artworks using the tools below. Additional images are available from many gallery websites, see the Galleries tab.

30+ Places To Find Creative Commons Media
Lists sites that help you find images that you can re-use under their Creative Commons licenses.

Art cyclopedia: The Fine Art Search Engine This link opens in a new window
A searchable database of artists and works with links to the collections that possess (and post images) of them.
Art Project This link opens in a new window
With Google's Art Project you can explore museums from around the world, discover and view hundreds of artworks at incredible zoom levels, and even create and share your own collection of masterpieces.
Museums currently include:
• Alte Nationalgalerie
• Freer Gallery of Art
• The Frick Collection
• Gemäldegalerie
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art
• MoMA, The Museum of Modern Art
• Museo Reina Sofia
• Museo Thyssen
• Museum Kampa
• National Gallery
• Palace of Versailles
• Rijksmuseum
• The State Hermitage Museumg
• State Tretyakov Gallery
• Tate Britain
• Uffizi Gallery
• Van Gogh Museum
BBC Your Paintings This link opens in a new window
The United Kingdom’s 212,000 oil paintings are now all online for the world to see.

Bridgeman - Art, Culture, History
A central source of fine art images from international museums, galleries and artists. Includes over 8,000 collections and more than 29,000 artists. Users can register to purchase and download images.

British Printed Images to 1700 This link opens in a new window
A digital library of prints and book illustrations from early modern Britain. Browse by: producer, persons shown, subject (includes places), Date, or Technique.
Europeana This link opens in a new window
Explore Europe's cultural collections. Europeana provides cultural heritage students, professionals, teachers, and researchers with free digital access to European cultural heritage material. The site includes cultural heritage material from over 4,000 different institutions, giving access to millions of cultural heritage items from across Europe. Discover artworks, books, music, and videos on art, newspapers, archaeology, fashion, science, sport, and more.
Flickr This link opens in a new window
Home to over five billion of the world’s photos, with archived collections from the Smithsonian, Library of Congress and more in The Commons.
Google: Advanced Images Search This link opens in a new window
Limit your image search with a range of filters. Search for a specific phrase, exclude words, filter by type of image, filter by color, domain, or by usage rights (e.g. images you can re-use or share).
Library of Congress: Prints & Photographs Online Catalog This link opens in a new window
Describes about 95% of the Library of Congress prints and photographs. Includes many digital images.

Metropolitan Museum of Art: Collection Database
A searchable database of artworks and related materials from the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

National Archives Image Library This link opens in a new window
An eclectic choice of unusual and often unique images. The image library provides high-resolution digitised scans and photographic prints of The National Archives' images for commercial publication, display, broadcast, and product and brand licensing.

National Gallery of Art: NGA Images
A repository of digital images of the collections of the National Gallery of Art in Washington.

New York Public Library (NYPL) Digital Gallery This link opens in a new window
Provides free and open access to over 700,000 images digitized from the The New York Public Library's vast collections, including illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, rare prints, photographs and more.
Oxford Art Online This link opens in a new window
Over 5,000 art images and line drawings with links to more
Picture Australia This link opens in a new window
Search for people, places and events in the collections of libraries, museums, galleries, archives, universities and other cultural agencies, in Australia and abroad. Over 400 images of Māori.

Sergo Grigorian's Collection of Soviet Political Posters
The collection includes more than 1300 soviet political posters.

University of Otago Digital Collections This link opens in a new window
Pictures and photographs from university collections. Explore images of pictures and photographs from the Hocken Pictorial Collections and Special Collections.
Digital Collections is a window into a selection of the cultural, heritage and historical material within Hocken Collections and the library's Special Collections. Content includes paintings and sketches by prominent New Zealand artists, historical photos and films of the University, and material that has been shown in exhibitions.
VADS: Visual Arts Data Service This link opens in a new window
Over 100,000 images free for use in art education.
Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) This link opens in a new window
The greatest museum of art and design, with collections of fabulous scope and diversity. The Museum holds over 3,000 years worth of artefacts from many of the world's richest cultures.
Web Gallery of Art This link opens in a new window
A virtual museum and searchable database of over 26,000 images of European painting and sculpture of the Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassical and Romanticism periods.
Wellcome Images This link opens in a new window
Unique, searchable collection covering the history of medicine and human culture.

New Zealand Photographic Collections

These are just some of the many large NZ photography collections. Many other institutions and archives also hold photographic collections. For additional lists of NZ photograph holdings, see:

Auckland War Memorial Museum This link opens in a new window
Over 1.2 million images extending over 150 years of photographic history.
Heritage Images Online This link opens in a new window
Three significant collections from Auckland City Libraries have been catalogued and scanned for availability through this database.
Hocken Photographs Database This link opens in a new window
The Photographs Collection is a national collection with a particular responsibility for collecting and preserving the photographic heritage of Otago.
Hocken Snapshop This link opens in a new window
A small sample of the photographs of New Zealand people and places held at Hocken Collections. You can print or download any of these images for personal and research use
Matapihi This link opens in a new window
Over 250,000 pictures, objects, sounds, movies, and texts from New Zealand’s archives, galleries, libraries and museums. Includes many photographs.

Nelson Provincial Museum
The Museum's Photographic Collection is an extensive record of the region's social history and development spanning the entire period from the 1860s to the present day, forming a unique and detailed continuous documentation of the region.

Photoforum This link opens in a new window
This website showcases New Zealand photographic work and work of overseas photographers with some connection to New Zealand or PhotoForum.
Picture Australia This link opens in a new window
Find people, places and events in the collections of libraries, museums, galleries, archives, universities and other cultural agencies, in Australia and abroad. Over 400 images of Māori
Te Papa Picture Library This link opens in a new window
Selected rare and beautiful NZ images, including photographs.
National Library of New Zealand Images Collection This link opens in a new window
A database of images from the collections of the National Library of New Zealand. Incorporates Timeframes
Heritage images from the Alexander Turnbull Library, at the National Library of New Zealand. Currently Timeframes contains over 20,000 heritage images and is growing every day. You can gain access to the images and information about them. The Timeframes database includes items of cultural value to Māori people and other New Zealanders.
University of Otago Digital Collections This link opens in a new window
Pictures and photographs from the Hocken Pictorial Collections and Special Collections.
Digital Collections is a window into a selection of the cultural, heritage and historical material within Hocken Collections and the library's Special Collections. Content includes paintings and sketches by prominent New Zealand artists, historical photos and films of the University, and material that has been shown in exhibitions.

Find Photos Online

These are just some of the manyw websites and databases that provide access to digitised photograph collections, and/or born-digital photos.

ARTstor Digital Library This link opens in a new window
There are several collections specifically devoted to photography. Of particular note is the collection from the
George Eastman House, one of the world’s oldest museums of photography.
The following system configurations are recommended for the optimal use of the ARTstor Digital Library: A high-speed internet connection; Java version 1.3 or later installed on your browser (Mac users accessing ARTstor through Innovative Proxy must have Java version 1.5 or later); Flash Player version 6.0 or later installed; Pop-up blockers are either disabled or configured to allow pop-up windows from www.artstor.org; Cookies are enabled in your browser; Monitor resolution is set at 1280 x 1024 pixels or higher; Screen colours are set to True Colour (32 bit) or better.

Digital Photograph Collections
A list of links to digital photograph collections, including general collections, 19th Century, 20th Century, 21st Century, History of Photography, and more.

Flickr This link opens in a new window
Home to over five billion of the world’s photos, with archived collections from the Smithsonian, Library of Congress and more in The Commons.
George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film This link opens in a new window
Collects and interprets images, films, and equipment in the disciplines of photography and motion picture. One of the oldest film archives in the United States, located in Rochester, New York.
J. Paul Getty Museum: Photographs This link opens in a new window
Explore the Getty's collection by menium: Photography
Library of Congress: Prints & Photographs Online Catalog This link opens in a new window
Describes about 95% of the Library of Congress prints and photographs. Includes many digital images.

LIFE Photo Archive
Millions of historic photographs from the LIFE photo archive, stretching from the 1750s to today. You can browse by people, period, place.

National Media Museum (UK) This link opens in a new window
Formerly the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television, located in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Choose from the National Photography, National Cinematography, National Television and National New Media Collections to explore an online selection of artefacts.
New York Public Library (NYPL) Digital Gallery This link opens in a new window
Provides free and open access to over 700,000 images digitized from the The New York Public Library's vast collections, including illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, rare prints, photographs and more.

Public Domain Photos
All photos on this web site are public domain. You may use these images for any purpose.

Smithsonian Photography Initiative This link opens in a new window
This website will introduce you to the Smithsonian's extraordinary collections of photographs.
Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A): Photography This link opens in a new window
As well as photographs, the site also includes information on photographers, personal commentaries and explanations of photographic processes and techniques.