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Images: Copyright Free Images
Guide to high-quality image databases and resources. Interdisciplinary image content, search strategies, evaluating images, & image citation guide.
Open Access Images
Images from sources on this page are available for use on the open web. You are free to use these images in multimedia projects, websites, blogs, portfolios, etc, that are open and available to the public. When you use these images, you do not need to restrict access to your class or academic environment.
Always read and comply with the use restrictions for specific image sources. Always cite images someone else created.
Images should not be sold or used in commercial products or for commercial purposes.
Flickr Creative Commons Search and Resources
- Flickr Creative CommonsFlickr's Creative Commons portal. Browse by license type or choose "Advanced Search" to limit to Creative Commons content.
- CompfightEnhanced search of Flickr content. Limit to Creative Commons.
- WylioSearches only Creative Commons content in Flickr. Additional tools for blogs and websites, including resizing tool, photo credit builder, and code generator.
- Smithsonian on FlickrShowcases photos from different collections in its museums, archives, and research centers.
Open Access Photographs & Historical Images
- Library of Congress Prints & Photographs OnlineImages from the Library of Congress, now in the public domain.
- Wikimedia CommonsHistorical and contemporary images contributed by participants. Millions of high-resolution images of art, architecture, design, people, historical events, diagrams, maps, and more.
- World ImagesPrimarily historical images organized into 18 categories, including Women, Science, Cities, Natural World, Science, and more.
Websites with Free Images
- BurstFree stock photos for websites and commercial use.
- Disabled and HereDisabled And Here is a disability-led stock image and interview series celebrating disabled Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC).
- The Gender Spectrum Collection: Stock Photos Beyond the BinaryA stock photo library featuring images of trans and non-binary models. This collection aims to help media better represent members of these communities as people not necessarily defined by their gender identities.
- The Jopwell Collection: Intern EditionFeatures free stock photos of young professionals of color.
- MorguefileSearch image tags or browse by category.
- The Noun ProjectDatabase of icons that can be used for free with attribution.
- nappyHigh-res stock photos of Black and brown people.
- PixabayFree images and videos
- stock.xchngStock photography contributed by members.
- UnsplashFree high-resolution stock photos contributed by a community of members. No attribution needed, though is appreciated.
About Creative Commons
Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that works "to increase the amount of creativity (cultural, educational, and scientific content) in “the commons” — the body of work that is available to the public for free and legal sharing, use, repurposing, and remixing."
Creative Commons licenses provide a way for people to share their work and make it available for others to build on and reuse.
Check out the Creative Commons website for more information and details about CC licenses.