It is common practice to cite the work the photograph has been published in and provide e.g. the page number or chapter in the in-text citation. In case the photo has not been published in a journal article, book, or book chapter, but is rather on display in a museum or can be found online take a look at our APA photo citation guides below.
To cite a photo in a reference entry in APA style 6th edition include the following elements:
Creator of the photo: Give the last name and initials (e. g. Watson, J. D.) of up to seven authors with the last name preceded by an ampersand (&). For eight or more authors include the first six names followed by an ellipsis (…) and add the last author's name.
Year of creation: Give the year in brackets followed by a full stop.
Title of the photograph: If the photo does not have a title, provide a description given in square brackets instead. Only the first letter of the first word and proper nouns are capitalized.
URL: Give the full URL of the web page including the protocol (http:// or https://).
Here is the basic format for a reference list entry of a photo in APA style 6th edition:
Creator of the photo.(Year of creation). Title of the photograph [Photograph].Retrieved fromURL
To cite a photo in a reference entry in APA style 7th edition include the following elements:
Creator of the photo: Give the last name and initials (e. g. Watson, J. D.) of up to 20 authors with the last name preceded by an ampersand (&). For 21 or more authors include the first 19 names followed by an ellipsis (…) and add the last author's name.
Year of creation: Give the year in brackets followed by a full stop.
Title of the photograph: If the photo does not have a title, provide a description given in square brackets instead. Only the first letter of the first word and proper nouns are capitalized.
Website name: Give the official title of the website.
URL: Give the full URL of the web page including the protocol (http:// or https://).
Here is the basic format for a reference list entry of a photo in APA style 7th edition:
Creator of the photo.(Year of creation).Title of the photograph [Photograph].Website name.URL
To cite a photo in a reference entry in APA style 6th edition include the following elements:
Creator of the photo: Give the last name and initials (e. g. Watson, J. D.) of up to seven authors with the last name preceded by an ampersand (&). For eight or more authors include the first six names followed by an ellipsis (…) and add the last author's name.
Year of creation: Give the year in brackets followed by a full stop.
Title of the photograph: If the photo does not have a title, provide a description given in square brackets insetad. Only the first letter of the first word and proper nouns are capitalized.
Name of the museum: Provide the name of the museum, art gallery or exhibition site.
Location: List the city and the US state using the two-letter abbreviation. Spell out country names if outside of the UK or the USA.
Here is the basic format for a reference list entry of a photo in APA style 6th edition:
Creator of the photo.(Year of creation).Title of the photograph [Photograph].Name of the museum,Location.
To cite a photo in a reference entry in APA style 7th edition include the following elements:
Creator of the photo: Give the last name and initials (e. g. Watson, J. D.) of up to 20 authors with the last name preceded by an ampersand (&). For 21 or more authors include the first 19 names followed by an ellipsis (…) and add the last author's name.
Year of creation: Give the year in brackets followed by a full stop.
Title of the photograph: If the photo does not have a title, provide a description given in square brackets insetad. Only the first letter of the first word and proper nouns are capitalized.
Name of the museum: Provide the name of the museum, art gallery or exhibition site.
Location: List the city and the US state using the two-letter abbreviation. Spell out country names if outside of the UK or the USA.
Here is the basic format for a reference list entry of a photo in APA style 7th edition:
Creator of the photo.(Year of creation).Title of the photograph [Photograph].Name of the museum,Location.
APA reference list examples
Take a look at our reference list examples that demonstrate the APA style guidelines for a photo citation in action:
APA photo citation examples
Photo citation from a digital source
Hine, L. (1908). Cotton mill girl [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://100photos.time.com/photos/lewis-hine-cotton-mill-worker
Photo citation from a digital source
Hine, L. (1908). Cotton mill girl [Photograph]. Time. http://100photos.time.com/photos/lewis-hine-cotton-mill-worker
Photo citation from a book
Adams, A. (1993). Ansel Adams in the national parks: Photographs from America’s wild places. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company.
Photo citation from a book
Adams, A. (1993). Ansel Adams in the national parks: Photographs from America’s wild places. Little, Brown and Company.
Photo citation from a museum
Spitzer, L., & Harris, J. (1971). Muhammad Ali training at Miami’s 5th St. Gym [Photograph]. HistoryMiami Museum, Miami, FL.
Photo citation from a museum
Spitzer, L., & Harris, J. (1971). Muhammad Ali training at Miami’s 5th St. Gym[Photograph]. HistoryMiami Museum, Miami, FL.
Photo citation from a journal article
Kinsley, K., Besara, R., Scheel, A., Colvin, G., Brady, J. E., & Burel, M. (2015). Graduate conversations: Assessing the space needs of graduate students. College & Research Libraries, 76(6), 756-770. https://doi.org10.5860/crl.76.6.756
Photo citation from a journal article
Kinsley, K., Besara, R., Scheel, A., Colvin, G., Brady, J. E., & Burel, M. (2015, May). Graduate conversations: Assessing the space needs of graduate students. College & Research Libraries, 76(6), 756-770. https://doi.org10.5860/crl.76.6.756
How to do an in-text citation for a photo in APA
When citing an image in-text using the APA style, you'll use the surname of the photographer followed by the creation date in parentheses.
In practice, you can expect your image in-text citation to be in this format (Creator of the photo, Year of creation).
If you are citing photographs from a book, the full-text citation in APA will follow the guidelines for citing books. The actual photograph is then referenced in-text, along with the corresponding year of publication and page number.
APA in-text citation example
In-text citation of a photo from a book on page 42
Her piercing blue eyes made her an instant icon (Adams, 2002, p. 42).
It's important to remember that you may not always be able to find all the information you need about the origin of the image. This is especially true if you are dealing with older, historical photographs.
Untitled images can be cited by adding a general description of the photo to the section dedicated to the image title. The same approach can be used to add a missing date: in the brackets that would contain the year of creation, you can simply add "n.d".
APA in-text citation example
Citation of a photo with unknown date of creation
The photograph of the blue-eyed girl (Bachman, n.d).
If the creator of the photograph is not mentioned, you can place the image title or description instead.
APA in-text citation example
Citation of a photo from a source with no author
Boy holding a trout ("Boy With a Fish", n.d.).
This citation style guide is based on the official Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th edition).
