Open Resources: Images

Resources for finding images, videos, music, text and more

Images

Need images for a project? These sources can help! Many of the images on these sites are free to use because they are in the public domain or licensed with a Creative Commons (CC) license. However, each image should be examined individually to determine its rights status. Please note that some of these sites are commercial and use a freemium model that offers more benefits (such as unlimited downloads) to paid subscribers. Additionally, it's standard practice to cite images someone else created.

General Stock Photos

Pexels
International stock photos that are free to use
Picryl
Aggregator site of images labelled as being in the public domain. It might be worth double checking their copyright status.
Pixabay Photos
Contemporary royalty free stock photos
The Noun Project Photographs
Many photos are free to use. Users with paid memberships have unlimited downloads and more flexible terms of use.
Burst
Royalty free stock photographs of daily life around the world
Unsplash
Contemporary stock photos from around the world
Creative Commons Search
Aggregate search portal for media with Creative Commons licenses

People

The Jopwell Collection: Intern Edition
These images of young interns are free to download, display, and distribute as long as users include a visible attribution to Jopwell or Jopwell.com.
The Gender Spectrum Collection: Stock Photos Beyond the Binary
The Gender Spectrum Collection is a stock photo library featuring images of trans and non-binary models that go beyond the clichés. This collection aims to help media better represent members of these communities as people not necessarily defined by their gender identities—people with careers, relationships, talents, passions, and home lives.
Disabled And Here Collection
This collection is a disability-led effort to provide free and inclusive stock photos shot from our own perspective, featuring disabled BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) across the Pacific Northwest.
nappy.co
A Black-created and maintained website of high-res stock photos of Black and brown people
#WOCinTech
A collection of photos of women of color in technology

U.S. Government Sources

Smithsonian of Flickr
Photos from different collections in the Smithsonian's museums and research centers.
Federal Science and Environmental Collections
Science-based images from federal departments, including the Department of Energy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Agriculture and more.
National Park Service Photographs
Images from more than 400 locations managed by the National Park Service.
Historic NASA on Flickr
Images of both space and space exploration, including from the Apollo and Space Shuttle missions

Museum and Library Collections

Library of Congress Digital Collections
Narrow your search by topic (for example "sports") and format (for example "photographs, prints, and drawings") at left. Images may be protected by copyright.
Yale University Digital Commons
Images if items in Yale museums, libraries, and archives. Some images may be protected by copyright.
Digital Public Library of America
Search results can be limited to show only images. Not all images are open access, but each item result contains a "rights" field with details.
Getty Open Content Search
Over 2.5 million digital images of rare and public domain books, photographs, prints, manuscripts, sketchbooks, and archives from the Getty Museum and Research Institute.
New York Public Library Digital Collections
Narrow your search to public domain images by clicking the box at the upper right. Not all images are copyright free.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Some of the Met's art images have been designated as "Open Access for Scholarly Content" or OASC. These images, identified by a small OASC icon under the image on the item page, are available for use in any scholarly or educational project.
Unfortunately, there is not a way to limit collection searches to only OASC images, so it is important to check each item page.
The British Library Digital Collections on Flickr
Images from 17th, 18th, and 19th century books held by the British Library. These works are marked “no known copyright restrictions”, indicating that the British Library is unaware of any current copyright restrictions on these works.
Europeana Collections
Art, books, films and music from cultural institutions across Europe. Limit search results by media type and by rights/license. You can also browse by topic, institutional source, or color!
The Smithsonian Institute on Flickr
Historic images of science, scientists, daily life, architecture, and more.
The Art Institute of Chicago
Over 50,000 images of works in the museum's collection are available for use under a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) designation.

Illustrations, Clip Art and Icons

The Noun Project Icons
Many images are free to use. Users with paid memberships have unlimited downloads and more flexible terms of use.
Reshot
Free to use vector illustrations and icons
Unsplash Illustrations
Free to use illustrations
Pixabay Illustrations
Wikimedia Commons Tango Icons
Wikimedia Commons Crystal Clear Icons