SJSU Research Guides: Photography: Images

images

Librarian

she/her/hers

Email Me

Contact:

Special Collections & Archives
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library
San José State University
One Washington Square
San José, CA 95192-0028

408 808-2131

Subjects: Art & Art History, Design

Locating images in journal articles

Articles that include images of specific pieces will often include the term Reproduction in the citation information. The following databases are generally useful resources for finding images in articles:

Art & Architecture Source This link opens in a new window
This art research database covers a broad range of subjects from fine, decorative and commercial art, to various areas of architecture and architectural design. It features full-text articles, indexing and abstracts for an array of journals, books and more. It also has a collection of over 63,000 images provided by Picture Desk and other sources
DAAI: Design and Applied Arts Index This link opens in a new window
Covers both new designers and the development of design and the applied arts. Disciplines covered include ceramics, glass, jewelry, wood, metalsmithing, graphic design, fashion and clothing, textiles, furniture, interior design, architecture, computer aided design, Web design, computer-generated graphics, animation, product design, industrial design, garden design, and landscape architecture. Period covered: Mid-19th century to present Dates of publications: 1973 to present.

Image Databases

ARTstor This link opens in a new window
A digital library of 550,000+ images for art, architecture, the humanities, and social sciences. Includes a set of tools to view, present, and manage images for research and pedagogical purposes. Help guides available.
AP Images This link opens in a new window
An archive of photos, images, video clips and audio files from the Associated Press.

Online Image Resources and Digital Collections

Many museums have searchable databases of their collections. Below are some museums and libraries with rich collections. If you know a museum has holdings of artwork you are researching, find the website and look for the "collections" feature on the website.

Museums

Cooper Hewitt
The Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design museum is located in New York City. You can browse the collection by many facets, including by color!
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Images and information about art in the de Young and Legion of Honor museums.
Getty Museum Collections
Searchable image database of artwork at the Getty Museum.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Search the Collection Database and the Timeline of Art History
Images from the Smithsonian
Images from the Smithsonian Institution.
Winterthur Museum
The Winterthur Museum has an extensive furniture and decorative arts collection.
SFMOMA
Explore digital copies of art at SFMOMA
MOMA Collection
Virtually explore the Museum of Modern Art's collection.

Libraries

SJSU Digital Collections
A collections of rare and unique materials held by Special Collections & Archives and the Beethoven and Steinbeck Centers.
DPLA Images
DPLA Images lets you search the Digital Public Library of America, a collection of millions of cultural heritage objects from libraries, archives, and museums across the country, for images.
New York Public Library Digital Collections
Over 700,000 items digitized from The New York Public Library's collections. A living database with new materials added every day, featuring prints, photographs, maps, manuscripts, streaming video, and more.

Databases with Photographs and Images

Calisphere: a world of primary sources This link opens in a new window
A public gateway to a world of primary sources, including those for teachers and lesson plans. More than 150,000 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. There is a section titled: Especially for Teachers which gives information and links about teaching and learning with primary sources, including sample lesson plans, primary source analysis sheets, etc.
CSU Japanese American History Digitization Project This link opens in a new window
The collections represent approximately 300 linear feet of archival materials that focus on some of the most striking events related to the treatment of minorities in U.S. history. Among the archives are letters, photographs, oral histories, camp publications, papers of camp administrators and counselors, poetry, art works, leases, certificates and other documents to prove citizenship, and school yearbooks. The project tends to focus on the digitization of paper, photographs, and media such as audio and video.
Images of the American Civil War This link opens in a new window
The collection is drawn from archives around the country, documenting the lives of Union and Confederate soldiers. Includes photographs, posters, and ephemera of nineteenth-century Americana as experienced from social, military, and political perspectives.
Garland Encyclopedia of World Music This link opens in a new window
Resource for music research of world's peoples that contains an overview of the region, a survey of its musical heritage, traditions and themes; and a description of specific musical genres, practices, and performances. Articles include detailed photographs that show musicians, musical instrument, and the cultural context of dances, rituals, and ceremonies. Other images include drawings, maps, and musical examples for further study.
Gilded Age This link opens in a new window
This collection brings together approximately 40,000 pages of full text, photographs, songs for listening online, and other primary materials, along with video interviews and twenty-five critical documentary essays covering issues that came to the fore in the Gilded Age such as immigration and migration, racism and civil rights, labor and industry, women and universal suffrage, American Indians, and the environment. Each documentary essay poses an interpretive question and then illuminates it with dozens of annotated primary documents, introductions, and essays.