Research Guides: Free Images, Videos, Music, &amp; Texts Instructors Can Legally Use in Courses: Image Resources

Verify Your Rights

The copyright owner has exclusive rights to control reproduction, distribution, performance, & display of the work, and the preparation of derivative works.

Be sure to verify the licensing / permissions for re-use on the individual image you wish to use.

Image Resources

Best Bets - Try These First!

Unsplash
"All photos published on Unsplash are licensed under Creative Commons Zero which means you can copy, modify, distribute and use the photos for free, including commercial purposes, without asking permission from or providing attribution to the photographer or Unsplash."
Wikimedia Commons
Millions of freely usable media files - like the Wikipedia of images.
Pixabay
Picture Search

Other Collections

You are responsible for reading the terms of service and the copyright information provided by each and every website to ensure you are within legal limits to use the photos. In general, these photos are available for Fair Use, but you'll need to read their terms to discover whether or not you need to cite them and how to cite them.

The Commons on Flickr
Hidden treasures in the world's public photography archives. These are photos posted by participating institutions such as NASA, Texas State Archives, Library of Congress, etc.
Creative Commons on Flickr
Pond5
Complimentary HD & 4K stock footage videos, photos, and music tracks
Vecteezy
Free stock photography for personal and commercial uses
Free Images
FreeImages.co.uk has more than 2,500 stock photos.
From Old Books
Scanned images, engravings and pictures from old books - More than 4,100 free images
Gratisography
Free high-resolution photographs, free of copyright restrictions.
morgueFile
"Free images for your inspiration, reference and use in your creative work, be it commercial or not!" (from morgueFiles)
PikWizard
Over 100,000 completely free images on the site, with more added daily.
Pixnio
Images free to use

Find More...

Public Domain Sherpa
Lists resources for high-quality public domain photographs
Image Collections compiled by University of Minnesota Libraries
Curated list of quality image collections by subject; includes both licensed content and select open online collections of images.

Note: Collection themes overlap, e.g., Disabled and Here includes disabled LGBTQIA representation.

Licenses vary by collection, so verify reuse permissions carefully.

#WOCinTech Photos
Women of color in tech photos. Images licensed CC-BY.
AllGo Plus Size Stock Photos
"These photos are available for all uses and feature plus-size people. While attribution is not required to use the photos, we do ask that you please credit AllGo and photographer Michael Poley of Poley Creative whenever possible so that others may find our stock photo collections."
Black Illustration Packs
"Beautiful illustrations of Black people for your next digital project." NOTE: Some collections require a small cost (ranging from $2.49 to $38), while others are labeled "Pay what you want" and can be downloaded at no cost or for an optional donation.
Disability:IN
Disability inclusive stock photography
Disabled and Here
"This is a disability-led effort to provide free & inclusive stock images from our own perspective, with photos and illustrations celebrating disabled Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC)."
The Gender Spectrum Collection
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. Images are licensed CC-BY-NC-ND.
Humaaans
Illustration package in which you can customize the composition, poses, skin color, clothing, etc. of the people depicted.
Human Development Institute, University of Kentucky
The main goal of this collection is "to create an accurate and diverse collection of stock photos that highlight disability representation." All photos are under a Public Domain (CC0) license.
nappy
Beautiful, high-res photos of black and brown people. For free. (Images licensed CC0.)
PICNOI
"We are a coop of stock image photography. We recognize that most other FREE stock image sites have very few or no images of people of color. We sought out to create a space where publishers, bloggers, website owners, marketers, designers, graphic artists, advertisers and the like can easily search and find diverse multi-racial images."
Queer in Tech (channel on Flickr)
"These photos are licensed CC BY 3.0 US and they’re free for anyone to use, as long as the use contains attribution."

When searching collections from federal agencies, remember: Government works are usually public domain unless otherwise noted, but you should verify permissions.

NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Photo Library
USGS (US Geological Survey) Multimedia Gallery
Animal Science Image Gallery
From the USDA National Agricultural Library and the American Society of Animal Science
NASA Image and Video Library
CDC (Centers for Disease Control) Public Health Image Library
Wellcome Collections: Images
Licenses vary: some public domain or CC0, but some restricted by copyright

British Museum
Collection includes paintings, jewelry, sculpture, textiles, pottery, artifacts, mask, clothing, furniture, coins
Cleveland Museum of Art
30,000 public- domain artworks from the CMA’s world-renowned collection of art are released to the public domain for commercial and non-commercial use under CC0 licenses. Tip: Use the Open Access checkbox when searching, and check for the CC0 icons beneath an image to verify its availability.
Getty - Open Content Program
Over 160,000 images of public-domain art and archives in the Getty collections have been made freely available, without restrictions, to advance the research, teaching, and practice of art and art history. More images are added monthly.
The Met - The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Public Domain Artwork
This link specifically shows images from the Met's collection that are free of copyright restrictions. In addition to art, the collection also includes photographs, pottery, albums, baseball cards, jewelry, embroidery, musical instruments. Look for works marked "Public Domain" or "CC0" (Creative Commons Zero). According to the museum website, "you are welcome to use images identified by a CC0 icon for any purpose, including commercial and noncommercial use, free of charge and without requiring permission from the Museum."
National Gallery of Art
From website: NGA Images is a repository of digital images of the collections of the National Gallery of Art. On this website you can search, browse, share, and download images.
National Museum of Denmark
From the Announcement:
As a pilot, 159 highlights from our collections are available for free download. The art works are also featured in the Google Art Project.
Paris Musees - CC0 Royalty-Free Image Results
The Paris Musées recently released more than 100,000 works under Creative Commons Zero (CCØ), putting the works into the public domain.
RijksStudio
Thousands of high-quality images of artworks from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, available to download, modify, and use copyright-free.
Smithsonian Open Access
"Welcome to Smithsonian Open Access, where you can download, share, and reuse millions of the Smithsonian’s images—right now, without asking. With new platforms and tools, you have easier access to nearly 3 million 2D and 3D digital items from our collections—with many more to come. This includes images and data from across the Smithsonian’s 19 museums, nine research centers, libraries, archives, and the National Zoo."
Victoria and Albert Museum
Collections of art, sculpture,metalwork, photographs, and textiles