A curated bibliography of quality image collections listed by subject. These resources include local collections, licensed content, and select open online collections of images.
Architecture
- 360citiesPanoramic views of sites and architecture around the world.
- Amiens CathedralComplete photographic documentation of a French Gothic Cathedral in Amiens, France.
- Andrew Dickson White Collection of Architectural PhotographsThis collection at Cornell University includes approximately 13,000 nineteenth and early twentieth-century photographs of architecture, decorative arts and sculpture.
- Architecture and Interior Design for 20th Century AmericaPhotographs from the Gottscho-Schleisner Collection, at the Library of Congress. The collection is comprised of over 29,000 images primarily of architectural subjects, including interiors and exteriors.
- Smithsonian Libraries Image GalleryThis site features a selection of images from across the Smithsonian's collections, including architecture, interior decoration, and more.
- Shedding Light on New York: E. F. Caldwell & Co.The E. F. Caldwell & Co. Collection at the Smithsonian Libraries, consists of photographs and original design drawings of lighting fixtures and other fine metal objects that they produced from the late 19th to the mid-20th centuries.
- Architecture in the Classical Tradition (Queens University, Canada) - Image SearchPersonal collection by Pierre du Prey, Professor & Director of the Architecture in the Classical Tradition project at Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
- ArchnetArchnet is an open-access intellectual resource of photos, writings, timeline, and maps focused on architecture, urbanism, environmental and landscape design, visual culture, and conservation issues related to the Muslim world.
- Danish Architecture Center KnowledgebaseThis site is "for everyone who wants to experience and understand how architecture and design create the framework for our lives."
- arounderPanoramic views of important sites in European and American cities. Includes historical cathedrals and works of art, museums featuring famous artists, local cafes and stores, mountain-top views, parks and gardens.
- Art images for college teachingArt and architecture images arranged by time period to parallel art history textbook organization.
- ARTstorARTstor is a cross-disciplinary image database. It offers collections of approximately 300,000 art images and descriptive information covering art, architecture and archeology.
- Asian Historical ArchitectureAn online index organized by country and then city of images of historic architecture throughout Asia. Supplementary to images are maps pin-pointing the location of the buildings and a bibliography.
- Built in AmericaCollections of materials from Library of Congress, including the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS).
- Canadian Architectural ArchivesThis collection documents individual architects, architectural firms, and architectural projects of national significance with a focus on western Canada.
- Catena Digital Archive of Historic Gardens & LandscapesArchive of digital images with accompanying educational materials, built around the villa, an important landscape type in garden history. Sponsored by the Bard Graduate Center through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
- Chartres: Cathedral of Notre DameOver 3,000 images of the cathedral in Chartres, France covering the architecture, sculpture, and stained glass.
- Chicago Public Library Digital CollectionsSearch the online collections of the Chicago Public Library.
- Cities and buildings databaseDigitized images of buildings and cities drawn from across time and throughout the world.
- Columbus Indiana Architectural ArchivesThe archives documents the architecture, engineering, and arts associated with the built environment of Columbus, Indiana and Bartholomew County. The archives' collection includes materials on both Historical and Modernist projects, including many of the 60 plus designs by world famous architects of the last half century that are located in Bartholomew County.
- Digital Archive of American ArchitectureView slides from the collection of Jeffery Howe, Boston College. Arranged by century, building type, style, architect.
- Digital Imaging Project"Art historical images of European and North American architecture and sculpture from classical Greek to Post-Modern;" a project by Mary Ann Sullivan to put her slide collection on the web.
- Digital Public Library of America (DPLA)A searchable online catalog with millions of digitized items to browse, including photos, maps and books, from libraries, archives, museums, and cultural institutions around the United States.
- EmporisSearch one of the largest image archives of buildings. Contains over 600,000 images from more than 18,000 cities worldwide. (Note: to download an image you must buy that image.)
- Architecture of the Getty CenterThis site contains photographs of the Getty Center in Los Angeles, divided into photographs taken pre-opening in 1997 and post-opening in 2000.
- Great Buildings CollectionPictures, details, resources, and other information about well-designed buildings from around the world.
- Oxford Art OnlineThe most comprehensive online resource for all visual arts worldwide from prehistory to the present day. Provides access to Grove Art Online, Benezit Dictionary of Artists, The Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, The Oxford Companion to Western Art, and The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms. Access is limited to 8 simultaneous users.
- Dreaming the SkylineExplore the distinctive architectural style of the Las Vegas Strip. Not only has this architecture transformed the physical environment of Las Vegas, it has become a leitmotif for post-modern architecture.
- MEDart Images of Medieval Art & ArchitectureExtensive documentation of Chartres Cathedral and the Benedictine Abbey Church of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine at Vezelay, including photographs, drawings, plans, and historical information.
- National Register of Historic Places FlickrPhotos U.S. historic sites on the National Register of Historic Places, taken by staff photographers. Organized into sets by location and type of building.
- New York Public Library digital galleryProvides access to over 275,000 images digitized from primary sources and printed rarities in the collections of The New York Public Library, including illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, rare prints and photographs, illustrated books, printed ephemera, and more.
- Pacific Coast Architecture Database (PCAD)This database shows architecture in Washington, Oregon, and California. It includes images, building and architect information, and a bibliography.
- Pattern in Islamic Art"This website offers an archive of over 4000 images of patterns and other design features drawn from the rich cultural heritage of the Islamic world. Historically, the decorative arts have always formed a major part of Islamic aesthetic expression."
- Perseus art & architecture browserIncludes digital images of buildings, coins, gems, sculptures, sites and vases from ancient Greece and Rome.
- Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae Digital CollectionThe Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae is a collection of engravings of Rome and Roman antiquities, the core of which consists of prints published by Antonio Lafreri and gathered under a title page he printed in the mid-1570's. The University of Chicago Library's copy contains nearly 1,000 prints and is the largest in the world.
- StructuraeInternational collection of architecture and engineering images and information, including historic and contemporary structures.
- New York ArchitectureContemporary and historic images of significant buildings in New York. Includes photography, postcards, and posters organized by style, building function, and neighborhood.
- Cities and buildings databaseDigitized images of buildings and cities drawn from across time and throughout the world.
- VADS: The online resource for visual arts.Visual art collections comprising over 100,000 images from institutional sources contributed for use in learning, teaching and research. Includes art, design, architecture, decorative art, fashion. UK-based.
- Visual collections: images of art, history and cultureIncludes Cartography, Fine Arts, Architecture, Photography, and other image. Digital image collections from Museums, Universities and private collections throughout the world - Cartography Associates (David Rumsey)
- Web Gallery of ArtWeb Gallery of Art The Web Gallery of Art is a virtual museum and searchable database of European painting and sculpture from 12th to mid-19th centuries started in 1996
- World ImagesProvides access to the California State University IMAGE Project. It contains over 65,000 images, is global in coverage and includes all areas of visual imagery.
Landscape architecture
- American Environmental Photographs 1891-1936A collection of 4,500 photographs documenting natural environments, ecologies, and plant communities in the United States. The photographs in the collection were created between 1891 and 1936 by faculty members and students in the Department of Botany of the University of Chicago.
- Early Landscape Photography of the American WestThis collection from New York Public Library includes over 200 large albumen prints from the 1860s and 1870s of American Western landscape, including views of Yosemite Valley and the route of the Union Pacific Railroad through the Rocky Mountains.
- Historic Architecture and Landscape Image CollectionApproximately 15,000 images from the Art Institute of Chicago that document the architecture, landscape and urban planning of sites across the United States—with a particular emphasis on Chicago and its suburbs.
- Landscape Plants: Images, Identification, and InformationThe site by Oregon State University contains images and information on over 1,800 landscape plants, mostly woody.
- Project for Public Spaces - Placemaking for CommunitiesThis site contains images and descriptions of parks, markets, downtown areas, civic centers and more. It contains a database of images and articles and blogs about public space design and utilization.
- Environmental Design Archives (UC Berkeley)The Environmental Design Archives holds nearly 100 collections documenting the built and landscaped environment. These records span a century, 1890-1990, and contain primary source materials such as correspondence, reports, specifications, drawings, photographs, and artifacts.
Clothing
- ARTstorARTstor is a cross-disciplinary image database. It offers collections of approximately 300,000 art images and descriptive information covering art, architecture and archeology.
- Fashion: Past & PresentA listing of dozens of online resources that cover the entire span of the history of fashion. Children's, men's, ethnic & folk fashions as well as military arms and armor and all types of cosmetics and accessories are also covered.
- Fashion Plate Collection from the University of WashingtonIllustrations from the leading French, British, American, and other continental fashion journals of the 19th century and early 20th century. These images reflect the metamorphosis of women's fashion from the 1920s through the 1970s from the Gimbel Art and Design Library
- Index of American DesignAn index of over 18,000 watercolor renderings of American folk and decorative art objects, including woodcarvings, textiles, whirligigs, weathervanes, and other objects from thirty-four states in the US.
- Museum at the Fashion Institute of TechnologyThe permanent collection includes more than 50,000 items from 18th century to the present.
- Women's Wear Daily (WWD)A comprehensive archive of Women's Wear Daily, from the first issue in 1910 to material from within the last twelve months, reproduced in high-resolution, full color images. Every page, article, advertisement and cover is included.
Journalism
- American Memory: Historical Collections for the National Digital LibraryPrimary source and archival materials covering topics such as art and architecture, performing arts, technology and applied sciences.
- American Memory Digital Moving ImagesView several hundred early motion pictures from the Library of Congress's digital collections.
- Digital Public Library of America (DPLA)A searchable online catalog with millions of digitized items to browse, including photos, maps and books, from libraries, archives, museums, and cultural institutions around the United States.
- DreamstimeThis site offers royalty free stock photos and sharing capability.
- Flickr CommonsSearch and use hundreds of images with "no known copyright restrictions." A joint venture of Flickr and the Library of Congress, Flickr Commons was designed to increase access to publicly-held photography collections.
- Illustrated Newspaper Supplements FlickrIllustrated newspapers (starting 1909) from the Library of Congress's Historical Newspapers image collection, displayed on Flickr. Contains many public domain images.
- Library of Congress Prints & Photographs CatalogPrints and photographs from the Library of Congress.
- Minnesota ReflectionsSearch a collection of thousands of historic documents and images from across Minnesota contributed by libraries, archives, museums, and historical societies from all corners of the state.
- MorguefileMorguefile bills itself as a photo archive that offers "free images for creatives, by creatives."
- Stock Free ImagesThis site "is the largest web collection of FREE images, with 3.4 million images, royalty-free stock photos and illustrations."
- FreeImagesExplore over 300,000 free stock photos and royalty images. Browse photos by subject, photographer, or even camera.
- U.S. Government Photos and ImagesA large collection of photos and images made available by the U.S. government. ost of these images and graphics are available for use in the public domain, and they may be used and reproduced without permission or fee. However, some images may be protected by license. We strongly recommend you thoroughly read the disclaimers on each site before use. For information about obtaining seals of Federal Agencies and the United States, please see the Government Printing Office website.
- Wikimedia CommonsWikimedia Commons is a media file repository making available public domain and freely-licensed educational media content including images, sound and video clips.
- World Digital LibraryCreated by UNESCO and the Library of Congress, the World Digital Library provides free online access to world cultural treasures. Includes manuscripts, maps, rare books, musical scores, recordings, films, prints, photographs, and architectural drawings from a variety of countries.
Marketing
- Ad Access ProjectDuke University digital archive of advertisements from newspapers and magazines between 1911 and 1955. Early ads from major companies in the United States are featured in a presentation called the Emergence of Advertising in America (1850-1920).
- AdFlipArchive of classic print advertisements from 1940 to 2001. Search by publication, advertisement category, or year.
- Ads of the WorldContemporary ads from around the world, including award winners.
- The Advertising Archives: Historical & Current Print AdsHistorical print and TV advertisements, magazine covers, cinema posters, comics, postcards, cigarette cards, and more. Sign in for access to larger images.
- AdvertologContemporary print and TV ads, browsable by categories, including cars, savoury foods, and men's magazines.
- AdViewsAdViews is a digital archive of thousands of vintage television commercials dating from the 1950s to the 1980s from Duke University.
- AIGA Design ArchivesOver 16,000 images of past winners of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) annual competitions in the areas of Book, Brand and Corporate Identity, Promotional, Information, Package and Typographical design from 1950's to the present.
- The American Package MuseumHistorical American packaging and print advertising from the early 20th century. Browse by product name. Some 3-D images available.
- Early Advertising of the West, 1867-1918This collection from the University of washington Libraries consists of over 450 print advertisements published in local magazines, city directories, and theater pamphlets from 1867 to 1918.
- Emergence of Advertising in America: 1850-1920An important, collaborative effort between the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History and Duke University's Digital Scriptorium provides images of over 9,000 advertising items and publications dating from 1850 to 1920. The site is designed to chronicle the rise of consumer culture in America in the late nineteenth century as well as the development of a professionalized advertising industry.
- The Gender Ads ProjectAdvertising images focusing on gender content and analysis. Browse by female and male advertisements, body parts, gender roles, and more.
- GLAAD Advertising Media ProgramGay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) archive of current and historical advertising with diverse gender content. Image collection and analysis.
- Medicine and Madison AvenueOver 600 historical and health-related advertisements printed in newspapers and magazines from 1910-1959; categories include cigarettes, vitamins and tonics, diet, and more From Duke University Libraries digital collections.
- Sears ArchivesHistory of Sears store.
- HOLLIS ImagesHOLLIS Images is the Harvard Library's dedicated image catalog. It includes content from archives, museums, libraries, and other collections throughout Harvard University. It focuses on artistic and cultural materials.
Communication studies
- ARTstorARTstor is a cross-disciplinary image database. It offers collections of approximately 300,000 art images and descriptive information covering art, architecture and archeology.
- LIFE Photo Archive (hosted by Google)Search millions of photographs from the LIFE photo archive, stretching from the 1750s to today.
- Time & Life CoverageSearchable collection of photos from Time, Life, and Getty Images, three of the most recognized names in photography.
- Wikimedia CommonsWikimedia Commons is a media file repository making available public domain and freely-licensed educational media content including images, sound and video clips.
Last Updated: Jan 22, 2025 5:13 PM
URL: https://libguides.umn.edu/digitalimages