Research Guides: Photography: Images/Photos

Subject Librarian

Wendy Hall

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Subjects: Design, Fashion Studies, Photography

Images/Photos

Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP)
The MoCP is the world’s premier college art museum dedicated to photography.

Artstor This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
This database has many types of images, including photographs. These images are approved for noncommercial educational use.
Artstor on JSTOR | JSTOR Images This link opens in a new window
New Artstor platform. Features images from some of the world's leading museums, photo archives, scholars, and artists. It is a comprehensive image resource available for educational and scholarly use, with many rare and important collections available nowhere else.

ARTstor | Photography Guide
Highlights Artstor content related to the history of photography, including works by significant photographers chronicling people, events, and places of our time, as well as images documenting the development of landmark processes and technologies, from early daguerreotypes to contemporary prints.
ARTstor | Copyright and Image Use
Copyright Checkpoint is Artstor's new tool for evaluating the copyright status of different types of materials such as books, images, audio recordings, and more. You can use this tool with images that you would like to work with to understand if they are in the public domain or under copyright.
American Museum of Photography (Virtual Museum)
The Research Center of this "museum without walls" offers links to photo history sites. Learn about early photographic processes, photo preservation, and exhibits about the early days of photography, 1839 through WWI.
Amplifying Black Voices: 100+ Black Photographers You Should be Following on Social Media | PhotoShelter Blog
Brings attention to the extraordinary and important work black photographers bring to the industry.
The AP Archive | American Photography
American Photography showcases editorial, advertising, book, poster, design, animation, fine art, unpublished and student work created by established, emerging and student photographers annually. View print volumes in the Main Stacks (4th Floor) under the Call Number: 779 A512b
Art Institute of Chicago Digital Archive - Photography Collection
Explore thousands of photographs in the museum’s wide-ranging collection—from world-renowned icons to lesser-known gems from every corner of the globe—including books, writings, reference materials, and other resources. ★ Look for Columbia College Chicago photography faculty work -- past and present -- here as well.
Atlas Photography Gallery
Rich in photographic imagery, the artists and exhibitions sections allow users to browse works and events associated with each represented artist.
Black History & Culture Collection | Getty Images
Created to provide free non-commercial access to historical and cultural images of the African/Black Diaspora in the US and UK from the 19th century to present day.
Black Women Photographers
Supports its members through promoting their work in an active database distributed to photo editors, directors, curators, and art buyers. The collective also offers free educational resources such as regular programing of webinars, workshops, trainings, and portfolio reviews.
Color Positive
A place for black talent (photographers, directors, stylists) to be seen, heard and inspire the next generation.
Communication Arts | Photography
Features the latest and best in photography and visual communication each year with the July/August issue. Browse print issues in the Library's (Second Floor) collection. Discover award-winning work from Columbia College Chicago students as well as work by alumni.
Digital Public LIbrary of America | Photography
Highlights of photography collections from libraries, archives and museums across the United States, organized into easy-to-navigate topics.
Diversify Photo
Promoting a greater ethnic inclusion in the world of photography, this database of ‘photographers of color’ makes it easier for art buyers, creative directors and editors to find photographers from a wide range of cultural backgrounds to hire. Clicking on the images takes users to the photographer's website.
George Eastman House: Photography Collections Online
Thousands of photographs spanning the history of the medium. Indexed by both photographer and subject. An attraction of worldly distinction is the museum's collection of photographic and cinematographic technology. Explore the Technology Vault and see the oldest known Daguerreotype Camera sold in the US circa 1840. https://www.eastman.org/technology
Hunger Magazine | Photography
A biannual magazine from photographer and publisher, Rankin, covering photography, fashion, beauty, arts & culture, film and music.
Illinois Digital Archives
Includes historical photographic and illustrated postcards of Chicago and Illinois featuring rural and urban skylines, tourist attractions and other visual culture.
Library of Congress | Digital Collections
Explore items digitized from the collections of the Library of Congress.
Library of Congress | Historical Newspaper Images
Go Back In Time -- The Library of Congress has a new tool to search Historical Newspaper Images. The public can now explore more than 1.5 million historical newspaper images online and FREE of charge. Users can search visual content in American newspapers dating 1789-1963. Editorial Cartoons, Comics, Illustrations, Advertisements, Photographs and Maps are all in the PUBLIC DOMAIN to use however you wish. Watch the video to learn more about its special features.
Library of Congress | Prints and Photographs Online Catalog
The collections of the Prints & Photographs Division include photographs, fine and popular prints and drawings, posters, and architectural and engineering drawings. While international in scope, the collections are particularly rich in materials produced in, or documenting the history of, the United States and the lives, interests and achievements of the American people.
New York Public Library Digital Collections
Thousands of photographs and other images depicting historic American culture, events and daily life.
New York Public LIbrary | Explore White Studio's Theatrical Photography Online
The collection is remarkable not just for the number of theatrical productions it documents - but also for the *history of photographic technology and techniques* it preserves. View glass plate negatives to color slides to digital Canon Camera RAW files.
Photogrammar Online Project
Explore the photographic collections of the Farm Security Administration and Office of War Information. Find images useful for discussion of the Great Depression, World War II, and the culture of the American West. Allows searching for photos in a number of ways -- even tracing the movements of FSA-OWI photographers as they traversed the country.
Vanity Fair Magazine | Print Issues | Library Second Floor
Fashion, popular culture and current affairs through the years with world-class photography.
Columbia College Archives & Special Collections | Archival Resources
Explore a variety of archival resources and collections in Chicago, Illinois, and nationwide.
Columbia College Archives & Special Collections | Magazine Work by Photographers
Located in the College Archives and Special Collections, 619 S Wabash, Room 201. These files include a small collection of clipped magazine work arranged by the photographer’s last name. NOTE: This collection is available by appointment only.

Images/Technique/Lighting

The Photographer's Guide to Posing: Techniques to Flatter Everyone
Call Number: > > > E-Book
Chapters feature posing specific subject matter: women, men, couples, curvy women, families and small groups, and large groups. Addresses how to train the eye to determine the best pose for your subject(s).

SLR Lounge | The Unfortunate History of Racial Bias In Photography
The bias behind historical color film production -- 5 minute video included.
NPR Morning Edition | How Kodak's Shirley Cards Set Photography's Skin-Tone Standard (6 minute listen)

Light Science and Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting
Call Number: > > > E-Book
Publication Date: 2015 Edition
Styles of lighting continue to change, but the nature of light remains the same. Understanding the basic physics of lighting, allows applying that knowledge to a broad range of photographic styles.
Light Science and Magic: An Introduction To Photographic Lighting
Call Number: 2021 Print Edition
Features photographs, diagrams, and step-by-step instructions,it provides invaluable information on how to light the most difficult subjects, such as surfaces, metal, glass, liquids, extremes (black-on-black and white-on-white), and portraits.

Columbia College Chicago - Alumni Exhibition Catalogs

M.F.A. Photography Thesis Exhibition Catalog
The MFA Photography Thesis Exhibition catalogs capture the spirit of emerging artists who have pursued the expression of their philosophies at Columbia College Chicago's Photography MFA program.
B.A. + B.F.A. Photography Manifest Exhibition Catalogs
The BA | BFA Photography Exhibition catalogs celebrate a sampling of work of graduating photography majors held during the annual Manifest urban arts festival. ★2019 is published in a poster format.

Columbia College Chicago | Student Work | Photography Publications During the Pandemic of COVID-19

Chicago Protests: A Joyful Revolution
A photo book by Vashon Jordan Jr., a cinema and television arts major senior, showcasing over 100 photos from more than 35 different demonstrations, community events, and moments that shaped the Chicago summer of 2020 and occurred during the pandemic of COVID-19.

Postcards From The Pandemic | Photographing A Virus (College Archives & 4th Floor-Focused Collections Book Room)
Columbia Photography students collaborated with Skylark Editions to document the pandemic. Professor Paul D'Amato and his students were able to pivot from the work they had started in January 2020 to attempting to convey the pandemic through photographs. “Most of the projects that students had been working on were no longer possible,” said D’Amato. “In the spirit of FSA—the legendary documentary collective in the 1930s—we decided to respond to this national crisis as they had to the Great Depression."

Postcards From The Pandemic
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Related Research Guide

Finding, Citing & Using Images