Creative Vix Free Stock Images
Creative Vix provides free stock images for design. Users can browse the images by categories. Creative Vix also provides other design resources such as tips, tricks and trends.
Tookapic Stock Photos
Tookapic was launched as a platform to help users to “develop a habit of daily photo taking in a fun and addictive way”. The habit is gamified where users will be awarded with points and badges. Users are also able to share their images for reuse. The stock photos section of the website presents the pictures shared by the community. As of November 2015, there are more than 14,000 stock photos uploaded with 66% free for download. Users can search or browse by different categories.
SpaceX Photos Flickr
Founded in 2002, SpaceX is an American company that “manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft”. Their Flickr account shares photographs of their rocket launches and space missions.
Ernst Haeckel’s Kunstformen der Natur (1904)
Kunstformen der Natur (or known in English as Art Forms in Nature) is a book of prints by German biologist, Ernst Haeckel. The geometric shapes and natural forms captured precisely by Haeckel continue to inspire artists and scientists. Via Wikimedia Commons, you may access more than 100 illustrations from the publication.
BILDGEIST
BILDGEIST is a “visual journal of scientific illustrations, illuminated manuscripts, photographs, prints and artworks from the public domain”. The images are of various themes including astronomy, alchemy, mythology, cartography, anthropology, zoology, botany, and general curiosa. Users can filter the contents by period, categories and keyword tags.
The U.S. National Archives Flickr
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) or National Archives is a “record keeper” of the United States Federal government. Besides contributions from the National Archives, the Flickr account contains photographs from the National Archives and the federal photography project called Project DOCUMERICA (1971 – 1977). The project was initiated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to capture the environmental problems and achievements of that era.
Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons is a “media file repository” of public domain and freely-licensed educational media content, including images, sounds and video clips. Launched on 7 September 2004 by the Wikimedia Foundation, Wikimedia Commons uses the “wiki-technology” that is the same technology used in Wikipedia. Wikmedia Commons also aggregates files from other projects, including Wikipedia, Wikibooks, Wikivoyage, Wikispecies, Wikisource, and Wikinews. As of October 2015, there are more than 28.7 million files in more than 120,000 collections. Users can conduct a keyword search or browse the content by topic, type, author, location, license and source.
DesignerPics.com
DesignerPics.com is developed by Jeshu John, a web designer and developer based in Kochi, Southern India. Users can search by keywords or browse by categories.
Project Apollo Archive (Flickr)
The Project Apollo Archive was first created in 1999 by Kipp Teague. It contains photographs pertaining to the historic manned lunar landing program – Apollo. According to Teague, the archive is “a re-presentation of the public domain NASA-provided Apollo mission imagery as it was originally provided in its raw, high-resolution and unprocessed form by the Johnson Space Center on DVD-R and including from the center’s Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth web site”. All digital images are scanned from the original photographs taken by Hasselblad cameras.
National Media Museum Flickr Commons
The National Media Museum is situated in the UNESCO city of film, Bradford in United Kingdom. It houses more than 3.5 million items in their collections that are of cultural significance to photography, cinematography and television. The museum contributed about 580 photographs to Flickr Commons, which include photography equipment, famous photographers and writers, British Royal Family, significant events and world’s first moving pictures. Each image includes commentary provided by the museum.
Divvy Pixel Free Public Domain Images
Divvy Pixel curates public domain images from various sources. Images provided on their main site and online galleries are on public domain and can be used personally or commercially. Users can browse and download the images individually or all at once.
Pixabay
Pixabay is a photo community that provides images on public domain. The site contains curated images contributed by photographers around the world. As of September 2015, there are more than 470,000 photographs, vectors and illustrations. Users can search by keywords or browse by various categories.
MMT Photos
Developed by Brooklyn-based interface and experience designer, Jeffrey Betts, MMT is a site that contains high-resolution photos on public domain. Users can search by keyword or browse by different categories.
FoodiesFeed
Developed and designed by food photographer, Jakub Kapusnak, FoodieFeed is “a resource of free high resolution food pictures available to download and use on your website, blog, in your presentation, your website template, WP demo, in design project for your client or just anywhere else”. Users can search by keywords or browse by different categories.
Lock & Stock Photos
Lock & Stock Photos provides photographs taken by social media marketeer, AJ Montpetit.
Split Shire
Developed by Italian photographer and graphic designer, Daniel Nanescu, Split Shire provides copyright-free photographs for designers, bloggers, social marketeers and commercial companies. Users can search or browse images by categories.
Free Nature Stock
Built by web designer and developer, Adrian Pelletier, Free Nature Stock provides free public domain images that focus on nature. The site is updated with a new photo daily. Users can search or browse the images through the Archive.
PLiXS Image Database
Founded by a startup based in Switzerland, PLiXS is a database of free high resolution images. As of August 2015, there are close to 3,400 images, contributed by photographers around the world. Users can search or filter their search by photo filters and categories.
Skitterphoto
Skitterphoto provides photographs that are taken by three photographers based in Groningen, The Netherlands. Since the platform launched in 2014, a photo is uploaded every single day. Users can search or browse by categories.
British Library Flickr Commons
Since 2013, British Library released more than 1 million images to Flickr Commons. The images were obtained from the Library’s digitised collection of 65,000 books of the 17th, 18th and 19th century. The release of these images indicates the Library’s desire “to improve knowledge of and about them, to enable novel and unexpected ways of using them, and to begin working with researchers to explore and interpret large scale digital collections”. The images are arranged by different themes, such as book covers, illustrated letters, maps, flora and children book illustrations.