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How to: Locate and Use Images

Explore this guide for advice related to educational sources and image use.

Citing Images

Citations can be formatted according to the citation style you are using (MLA, APA, Chicago Manual of Style). Using images that you did not create require citation in all cases and the citation should be accessible in the context of the image's use.

Here are a few basic guidelines:

  • Give attribution to image creators in citations and credit statements to acknowledge authorship
  • Indicate when using a personal photograph
  • Include source information
  • Citations to images included in image databases should include the following (or as much of it as can be easily determined from the source):
    1. Creator's name;
    2. Title of the work, as given;
    3. Location of the work (museum, library or owning institution, if known);
    4. Date;
    5. Database collection, if known;
    6. Rights information, if known.

For detailed, up-to-date guidelines on in-text and bibliographic citations of images, visit the excellent guide maintained by Simon Fraser University:

 

Image Citing Templates

Below are examples in Chicago style citations by type.

Include the artist’s name, title of work (italicized), date, medium, measurements, and the institution which houses the work.

Include the source the image came from, preceded by a statement which declares the source (for example “In;” or “Source:” or “Available from:”).  If the source is online, include the URL and the date accessed.

Image from a Book:

Alice Neel, Nancy and the Rubber Plant.  1975, Oil on canvas, 203.2 x 91.3 cm.  The Estate of Alice Neel.  From:  Ann Temkin et al.  Alice Neel.  New York:  Harry N. Abrams, 2000.  Plate 64.

Image from ARTstor:

Rogier van der Weyden, Saint Catherine of Alexandria.  1430-1432, Diptych panel, 18.5 x 12 cm.  Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria.  Available from:  ARTstor, http://www.artstor.org (accessed June 19, 2019).

Image from Museum Website:

Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi). The Musicians. Ca. 1595. Oil on canvas, 36 1/4 x 46 5/8 in. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. From: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, http://www.metmuseum.org (accessed June 19, 2019).

Image from Flickr Commons:

Thomas Eakins, William Rudolf O’Donovan.  1981, Black and while photographic print, 6 x 8 cm.  Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.  Available from:  Flickr Commons, http:// https://www.flickr.com/photos/smithsonian/2547841439 (accessed June 19, 2019)

Image from Flickr (personal images uploaded by individuals)

Friedrich von Schmidt, Vienna Rathaus.  1872-1883. Source:  -keka-, Rathaus, Vienna.  2014.  Digital Image.  Available from:  Flickr, https://www.flickr.com/photos/88975201@N05/13891404251 (accessed June 19, 2019)

Below are examples in MLA style citations by type.

 

Image reproduced from a printed source

Artist’s last name, first name. Title of art work, in italics. Date of art work. Medium.  Institution where art work is housed (if known), city where housed if not already named. Title of printed source, in italics. By Author of printed source. Place of publication: publisher, date. Page or plate/figure/slide number. Print.

Rousseau, Henri.  The Ship in the Storm.  1896.  Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris.  Henri Rousseau:  Jungles in Paris.  By Claire Fresches, et al.  Washington:  National Gallery of Art, 2006.  232.  Print.

Image from an electronic source:

Artist's last name, first name.  Title of Art Work in Italics.  Date of art work.  Institution where art work is housed (if known),  City where art work is housed (if not already named).  Database or website name.  Web.  Day month year accessed.

Image from ARTstor

Cassatt, Mary.  Denise at Her Dressing Table.  ca. 1908-09.  Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.  ARTstor.  Web. 18 June 2019. <http://www.artstor.org>.

Image found on the open Web

Citation includes: Artist. Title of Work. Date of Work. Museum or Collection, City. Database/Web Site. Date Accessed. URL (optional).

Backhuyzen, Ludolf.  A Battle at Sea.  1692.  J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA.  The Getty.  Web.  18 June 2019. www.getty.edu

Image from a Library Database

If known, the collection which owns the image should be included, along with its location.

De Chirico, Giorgio.  Soothsayer’s Recompense.  1913.  Philadelphia (PA) Museum of Art.  Grove Art Online.  Web.  18 June 2019.

Work of Art viewed in person at a Museum 

Citation includes: Artist. Title of Work. Date of Work. Medium of Composition. Museum, City where Museum is located.

Atget, Jean-Eugène-Auguste.  Boulevard de Strasbourg (Corsets). 1912.  Photograph.  Art Institute of Chicago.

Goya, Francisco.  The Family of Charles IV.  1800.  Oil on Canvas.  Museo del Prado, Madrid.

Below are examples in APA style citations by type.

Images from a electronic source

Author (Role of Author). (Year image was created). Title of work [Type of work], Retrieved from URL (address of website)

Kulbis, M. (Photographer). (2006). Men pray [Photograph], Retrieved from http://accuweather.ap.org/cgi-bin/aplaunch.pl

Note: If you can only find the screen name of an author (such as a photographer on Flickr), that will do as the author's name.

If the screen name is all lowercase, keep the name lowercase in the in-text citation and the references list.

 

Images from a electronic source (No Author, No Title, No Date)

Many images found on the Web are of this category, but you should still look for this missing information: try clicking on the image, and/or looking at the bottom of the image.

[Format and subject of work]. Retrieved from URL (address of website)

[Untitled photograph of a baby chimpanzee]. Retrieved from http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jdtr/struc/chimp3.htm