Visual Culture: Home

The digital archive of New York Times ads.

The AdCritic section of this site is a good source of examples of print, TV, and multimedia ads. (The library also subscribes to Creativity magazine in print.)

“We absorb, filter, review, and interpret cinema for your entertainment and enlightenment.” Featured films range from Snakes on a Plane to The Passion of the Christ to Who Framed Roger Rabbit?.

Definitions and background information about postmodernism from Georgetown University professor Martin Irvine.

Links to information and resources about postmodernism, including the writings of important scholars.

Links to information about semiotics, essays by important scholars, and examples of semiotic analyses.

Online semiotics textbook by Daniel Chandler of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. Includes a glossary of terms.

"Unlike traditional media repositories, Wikimedia Commons is free. Everyone is allowed to copy, use and modify any files here freely as long as they follow the terms specified by the author; this often means crediting the source and author(s) appropriately and releasing copies/improvements under the same freedom to others. The license conditions of each individual media file can be found on their description page. "

"The Getty Search Gateway allows users to search across several of the Getty repositories, including collections databases, library catalogs, collection inventories, and archival finding aids."

"We have brought together collections from around the world that provide digital scans or photos that can be freely used without any restrictions. This is an ever expanding list so if you know of collections that are not listed here please add them through our contribute an item page and we will get them online!"

"TinEye is an image search company. We build innovative and customizable image search solutions using image recognition and computer vision. Based in Toronto, Canada, we are a small, driven team passionate about tackling large scale search challenges using computer vision."

Links to a variety of online resources related to visual culture.

Irvine teaches visual culture courses at Georgetown University. His course web pages include links to online versions of many important readings in visual culture, as well as information from his own lectures and publications.

Journal of Media and Communication Studies (JMCS) is a peer reviewed open access journal. The journal is published monthly and covers all areas of the subject.

Topics include TV, film/video, comics, and consumerism/advertising, as well as links to general media studies and media theory resources.

Online resources include digital albums, online exhibits, and links to information about cartoons and comics.

Bibliography of (primarily print) resources for comics scholars, including books and academic journals.

“A peer-reviewed open access journal dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of comics and related media.”

Digitized images of propaganda posters from Cuba, China, and the former Soviet Union.

This collaborative project between Manchester Metropolitan University and the Imperial War Museum includes two online exhibitions dealing with World War I propaganda posters.

Photos and images of graffiti from around the world, including war protests and murals inspired by the Sept. 11 attacks.

Peer-reviewed electronic journal “dedicated to explorations of the material and political dimensions of cultural practices.”

Online exhibit from the National Library of Medicine on the use of images to convey public health information via posters.

“The goal of this site is to explore the ways in which rhetoric, visual culture, and pedagogy interact with and inform each other.” Not necessarily a scholarly source, but a good resource for ideas and discussion about current topics in visual culture.

"FREE STOCK PHOTOS - FEEL FREE TO USE THEM BOTH IN PERSONAL AND COMMERCIAL PROJECTS."

"Free high-resolution pictures you can use on your personal and commercial projects. "

"FREE HIGH-RESOLUTION PHOTOS, NO COPYRIGHTS RESTRICTIONS. IMAGES FOR PERSONAL COMMERCIAL USE."

"The person who associated a work with this deed has dedicated the work to the public domain by waiving all of his or her rights to the work worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. "

No copyright restrictions for the photographs on this website.

"VINTAGE PHOTOS FROM THE PUBLIC ARCHIVES.
FREE OF KNOWN COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS.
RECAPTURING HISTORY."

"Each of these files is available under a free content license or in the public domain; there are no restrictions of use beyond those relating to use of official insignia. Licenses which limit commercial use are considered non-free."

In order to gain access to photos, you will have to sign up for an account.

Free photographs.