Basic Rules of Thumb for Photo Usage
1) You should assume that all images you find online are copyrighted unless it is explicitly stated that they are in the public domain or that the creator/owner has given permission for public usage. (More on this below.)
2) Many news organizations contract with photo agencies for online images and you will see these credits on media sites: AP, AFP, Getty, Reuters, etc. It is NOT OKAY to take these images and use them on your site unless you are paying for that option. You do have access to an AP photo bank through the school.
3) Most images created by federal agencies will fall into the public domain category. However, you should take care to read any disclaimers or exceptions that might be posted on individual sites.
Photos Portals
1) flickr.com
– The Commons
A growing collection of public domain photography from a range of national and international institutions, including the Library of Congress, the New York Public Library, NASA, The U.S. National Archives, Smithsonian Institution, The National Archives UK, and Bibliothèque de Toulouse.
Example: 1903 images of the Bronx zoo
– Creative Commons on Flickr offers work by members that is available for use. You can search by varying degrees of copyright.
Attribution: You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your copyrighted work – and derivative works based upon it – but only if they give you credit.
Example: Search for the word “dream”
Noncommercial: You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform your work – and derivative works based upon it – but for noncommercial purposes only.
Example: Search for the word “UFO”
Example: Search for “street art”
No Derivative Works: You let others copy, distribute, display, and perform only verbatim copies of your work, not derivative works based upon it.
Example: Search for “Grand Concourse”
Share Alike: You allow others to distribute derivative works only under a license identical to the license that governs your work.
Example: Search for subways around the world
2) CreativeCommons.org
Creative Commons is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to making it easier for people to share and build upon the work of others, consistent with the rules of copyright. Members include Flickr, Google, Al Jazeera, WhiteHouse.org, Public Library of Science, Wikipedia.
3) Wikimedia Commons
A database of 7,306,691 freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute.
Example: Search for Harlem Renaissance
Government Agencies
1) USA.gov Flickr feed
You can search for images and photos from multiple agencies at once: defense, environment, energy, agriculture, health and nutrition, history, art, culture, science and technology.
Example: Search for “egypt/images”
Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates (left) and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meet with President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, on July 31, 2007.
2) Department of State also has a flickr feed.
Men from the town of Kalam form a chain to quickly unload a U.S. Army Chinook helicopter that has delivered humanitarian assistance and pick up victims of the flood in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, on August 10, 2010. (State Department)
3) The White House
Instagram
Facebook
4) Military Defense Imagery
This portal features images from the branches of the U.S. Military.
U.S. Marines surround a civilian while he performs pull-ups in Times Square May 28, 2010, during Fleet Week New York 2010 in New York. (US Navy)
Example: Browse 2010 Year in Review collection
Mayor Bloomberg meets with taxi driver Ahmed Hassan Sharif and his family on August 26, 2010. (Kristen Artz)
6) EPA
The EPA has a flickr feed.
U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen and EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, brief President Barack Obama about the situation along the Gulf Coast following the BP oil spill. (Pete Souza)
7) Centers for Disease Control
On a dark-blue background, this illustration provides a 3D graphical representation of a generic influenza virion’s ultrastructure. (CDC)
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Arizona, Utah (NPS)
10) NASA
The sands of time are running out for the central star of this the Hourglass Nebula. (NASA)
11) National Archives Digital Vaults
The HTML version of this site is a little easier to search. Example: Search of New York City
13) National Archives and Records Administration
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the nation’s record keeper. Of all documents and materials created in the course of business conducted by the United States Federal government.
Brochure “Is Communism Un-American?”, 03/02/1927. (NARA)
Example: Search for Declaration of Independence
12) National Science Foundation
What lies beneath our nose? (Dr. Kai-hung Fung)
Pelican (Bureau of Land Management)
Steep-sided volcanic cones along the Chilean-Argentinean border add texture to this “study in blue.” Of approximately 1800 volcanoes scattered across this region, 28 are active. (USGS)
15) New York State
16) New York City
Grand Central Station
Cultural Institutions
Poster promoting Puerto Rico for tourism, showing view of park with palm trees. WPA, Frank Nicholson.
Wright glider, photographed by Octave Chanute during his visit to witness Wright gliding experiments at Kitty Hawk, August 4-11, 1901.
3) The New York Public Library
NYPL Digital Gallery provides free and open access to over 700,000 images digitized from the The New York Public Library’s vast collections, including illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, rare prints, photographs and more.
JFK Presidential Library and Museum
President Kennedy inspects Mercury capsule, 23 February 1962. (Cecil Stoughton)
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
President Reagan giving a speech at the Berlin Wall, Brandenburg Gate, Federal Republic of Germany on 6/12/87. (Ronald Reagan Presidential Library)
George Bush Presidential Library and Museum
Stock photography
1) iStock
This is one of the best stock photo sites. It is not free, however images can be purchased for as little as $1.
2) Elated
Free stock images
3) Morguefile.com
Free stock images