Stock Photography & AI

Below is a list of stock photography sites that provide images free of charge or at a low cost. Make sure you review the individual site, artist, or item licensing agreement and compare with your intended use, and note whether attribution is required. If you need assistance please contact the Digital Media Lab during normal business hours.
 

AI Images

  • If you find that you are having trouble finding just the right image for your project and are considering AI, we recommend that you start with Adobe's FireFly. FireFly is a simple AI image generator, much less complex than alternatives like MidJourney. Firefly requires that you have a free or paid Adobe account. 

 

Free/Public Domain

Creative Commons / Attribution Required

Anything in this section is generally free for any use with attribution (written credit given to the artist). See the individual site for how you need to credit them in your piece.

  • The Noun Project - Beautiful images that celebrate diversity and represent a more inclusive world. Most photos and icons are free to use at lower quality with attribution. Some offer higher quality or less restricted use with payment.
  • The Gender Spectrum Collection - a stock photo library featuring images of trans and non-binary models that go beyond the clichés.
  • Affect The Verb - Disabled And Here Collection - photos and illustrations celebrating disabled Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC)
  • Women of Color in Tech
  • Free Stock Photos - many images are provided unconditionally but make sure to review the license for the specific image(s) you would like to use as it does vary depending on the image.
  • Bucketlistly - travel/nature photos
  • Burst by Shopify - terms of use vary
  • Textures - Background textures 

 

Educational License

Photos in this section are generally free, but only for educational/non-commercial purposes - class projects, etc.

Paid

Photos in this section will have a cost, but you may also find more niche content or higher quality content as a result.

Tonla diverse stock photography site where you can finally get those images of people of various ethnic backgrounds. You know, the images you've been searching hours for!

Getty Images - The Disability Collection - a growing collection of images and videos that break stereotypes surrounding people living with disabilities.

Getty Images - The Lean In Collectiona library of images devoted to the powerful depiction of women, girls and the people who support them

Getty Images - The Muslim Girl Collection - represent modern Muslim women being themselves.