Open Image Repositories

Below you'll find some of our favorite repositories for open images, along with examples. We've divided these into three categories:

  • Photographs: More traditional photography sites with high-quality images. Usually searchable. 
  • Diverse Image Collections: Mix of photography and more, focusing on certain groups.
  • Beyond Photos: Resources for icons and other images beyond photography.

Open Photography Repositories

Attribution-free Repositories

collage of three images depicting a pathway

There are a bunch of great repositories full of high-quality photos that are searchable. If you're looking for a photograph, they are a great place to start. You can see options for searching "pathway" from each of the three to the right. 

While you don't need to attribute these photos, it's still a good idea to get in that habit! 

Other Repositories

Beyond the big three, there are a ton of other repositories with varying levels of required attribution. Check them out below.

  • Flickr - A photo-sharing platform where users can choose to license their work under Creative Commons. Offers a wide variety of images with various licenses.
  • Wikimedia Commons - A media file repository used by Wikipedia, containing millions of freely usable images, sounds, and other media files, mostly under Creative Commons licenses.
  • Librestock - A meta search engine that scans multiple free stock photo websites, providing a convenient way to find high-quality, free images from various sources.
  • FreeImages - Offers a broad selection of free stock photos, which are available for personal and commercial use with some restrictions.
  • OpenVerse - Formerly CC Search. A tool that allows users to search for Creative Commons licensed images across various platforms, including Flickr, Wikimedia Commons, and more.
  • Edu Images - Free photo library celebrating students.

SDCCD Flickr Accounts

One of our favorite image repositories are those hosted on Flickr by the different SDCCD Campuses! You can look through albums to find images that might work for your discipline featuring our students!

While these images may show as copyrighted, you can use them with attribution "Photo courtesy of San Diego Mesa College" or whichever campus you're using a photo from.

collage of students from across SDCCD including a student giving a speech, a culinary student, a fight academy student, and a welding student

Diverse Image Collections

Incorporating diverse images in a college course helps students feel seen and represented, fostering a more inclusive learning environment. Below, you'll find links to some open image repositories featuring diverse and inclusive content. These platforms offer a variety of images that reflect different cultures, identities, and experiences, allowing you to create more representative and meaningful visuals in your course materials. Remember to use these images with intention, ensuring they contribute to the learning experience and avoid superficial representation.

SDCCD Flickr Accounts

We want to plug the SDCCD Flickr accounts one more time as a place to find images of diverse students. You can look through albums to find images that might work for your discipline featuring our students!

A Deaf Black man smiles and looks at something in the distance while signing. The man has glasses, a beard, and septum piercing, and stands outdoors in front of a black wall with sunkissed foliage while wearing a peach shirt, smartwatch, beaded bracelet, and hair tied back with a bandana.

While these images may show as copyrighted, you can use them with attribution "Photo courtesy of San Diego Mesa College" or whichever campus you're using a photo from.

Diverse and Inclusive Open Image Repositories

These aren't all searchable, but check out some of the repositories below. These libraries tend to show diverse individuals in a number of settings. Ensure that the images you use in your course are relevant to the content and contribute meaningfully to the learning experience, avoiding tokenism or superficial representation.

  • Nappy - Offers high-quality photos of Black and Brown people, promoting diversity in stock photography. Free for personal and commercial use without attribution.
  • Gender Spectrum Collection (by Vice) - A stock photo library featuring images of trans and non-binary individuals. No search function, but can find photos in the categories of lifestyle, relationships, technology, work, health, and outdoors.
  • Disability: IN - disability inclusive stock photography 
  • Disabled and Here Collection - a disability-led effort to provide free and inclusive photos and illustrations celebrating disabled Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC)
  • Age-Positive Image Library - a collection of stock photos depicting older people in non-stereotypical ways
  • Images of Empowerment - a free library of images of women working around the world
  • Queer in Tech Collection - Photoset of queer and gender-nonconforming (GNC) people in technology.
  • PICNOI - Stock photo library of diverse multi-racial images.
  • Human Development Institute - Images featuring people with disabilities. 
  • Dollar Street - Photographs of families, their homes, and how they live around the world.
  • All Go - A collection of stock photos featuring plus-size office workers.

Beyond Photos

Art Collections

Illustrations & Icons

  • The Noun Project - Icons and Photos!
  • Flat Icon - Icon library with tons of options.
  • The Greats - A collection of free and open illustrations from great artists organized around topics like #BLM, #ClimateChange, #HumanRights and more, CC BY-NC-SA
  • Open Peeps - A unique, hand-drawn illustration library CC0

Click 'Next' to explore using Open Videos.

Google Images: Filtered Search

You can search for Creative Commons-licensed images on Google. After performing a Google Images search, click on Tools > Usage Rights, then select Creative Commons licenses.

However, we recommend using the sources above first, as Google’s filters are not always accurate. Some images may be incorrectly tagged, leading to accidental use of copyrighted content.

Photo by Tim Johnson on Unsplash

Photo by James Wheeler: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-pathway-surrounded-by-fir-trees-1578750/ 

Image by Franz Bachinger from Pixabay

Photo courtesy of San Diego Mesa College, San Diego Miramar College, San Diego City College, and the College of Continuing Education