Answered By: Berkeley College Library
Last Updated: Jan 11, 2022     Views: 6919

To properly cite an image in the APA 7th format, you need to include this information (if available):

Artist or photographer's last name and first initial; date the image was created; Title of the work [Medium (like Painting, Sculpture, Photograph, Print)]; and location seen (museum); or online location & URL (name & web address of the website where you found it).

Here is an example from the Purdue OWL APA 7th Ed. Style Guide - Audiovisual Material:

Photograph (not associated with a museum)

Photographer, P. (Year of publication). Title of photograph [Photograph]. Source. URL

Ryan, S. (2019). Sea smoke on Lake Michigan [Photograph]. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/world/year-in-pictures.html

  • Parenthetical citation: (Ryan, 2019)
  • Narrative citation: Ryan (2019)

Note: if the photograph or artwork does not have a title, describe it and put that description in square brackets where the title goes.
 

Here are examples from the APA 7th Ed. Style website:

 

Artwork in a museum or on a museum website

Artist, A. (Year of publication). Title of artwork [Painting]. Source (location or website). URL

van Gogh, V. (1889). The starry night [Painting]. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, United States. https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/vincent-van-gogh-the-starry-night-1889/

  • Parenthetical citation: (van Gogh, 1889)
  • Narrative citation: van Gogh (1889)


 

Instagram photo

Author, A. or Name of Group who posted it [@instagram handle]. (Year, Month Date). Content of the post up to the first 20 words [Medium (Photograph; Video)]. Instagram. URL

Philadelphia Museum of Art [@philamuseum]. (2019, December 3). “It’s always wonderful to walk in and see my work in a collection where it’s loved, and where people are [Photograph]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/B5oDnnNhOt4/ 

  • Parenthetical citation: (Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2019)
  • Narrative citation: Philadelphia Museum of Art (2019)

 

Clip Art or Stock Image References

Common sources for clip art are Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint. Images and clip art from these programs can be used without citations. By purchasing the program, you have purchased a license to use the clip art and images that come with the program without attribution. 

The rules are different for stock images. Common sources for stock images are iStock, Getty Images, Adobe Stock, Shutterstock, Pixabay, and Flickr. Whether you need a reference for these depends on whether the Creative Commons (CC) license that is with it requires attribution of the source.

Here's a citation example for a photo from Flickr that has a CC license that says it can be used as long as you give credit to the photographer:

Roscoe, A. (2017). Shrinking glacier [Photograph]. Flickr.  https://www.flickr.com/photos/12778388@N06/37705686052

  • Parenthetical citation: (Roscoe, 2017)
  • Narrative citation: Roscoe (2017)


You can find more guidance on APA Style for images and other audiovisual materials from the APA Style Guide - Audiovisual Media and the links below.

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