Research Guides: How Do I Find Primary Sources?: Images

Using Images in Research

Images such as photographs or art can be a great visual addition to your research project. Use the resources below to find images of art, fashion, and sculpture created in the eighties or for photographs of lifestyle and culture in the era.

Artworks and Fashion

Artstor This link opens in a new window
As of August 2024, the Artstor platform will no longer be available. All Artstor content will be accessible on JSTOR. Artstor includes over 500,000 images embracing architecture, painting, sculpture, photography, decorative arts, and design as well as many other forms of visual culture.

Art Institute of Chicago
More than 44,000 digital images from the Art Institute of Chicago collections. Images are being added on an ongoing basis.
The Getty Museum
Nearly 100,000 images freely available for use.
Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive
An ever-growing collection of dance videos. Search by topic, artist, or decade.

Historical Images

New York Public Library Digital Collections
An image database of over 300,000 items taken directly from primary sources at the New York Public Library. Browse by general topic area or search by keyword.

American Memory (Library of Congress) This link opens in a new window
A digital library of primary sources that includes written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience.

Calisphere
The University of California's free public gateway to a world of primary sources. More than 200,000 digitized items — including photographs, documents, newspaper pages, political cartoons, works of art, diaries, transcribed oral histories, advertising, and other unique cultural artifacts — reveal the diverse history and culture of California and its role in national and world history.
Life Photo Archive
Search millions of photographs from the LIFE photo archive, stretching from the 1750s to today. Most were never published and are now available for the first time through the joint work of LIFE and Google.
Wikimedia Commons
A collection of more than 42 million freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute.
Getty Historical Archive
High-resolution photos from major events in US history

University Library

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Using Images in Research

Artworks and Fashion

Historical Images