Citing an image in APA style
Published January 27, 2021. Updated October 29, 2021.
To cite an image in APA, you need to know the name of the photographer, the title of the photograph, the publisher/museum/gallery, and/or the URL (uniform resource locator).
The templates and examples below are based on the 7th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association and the main APA style website. On this page, you can learn how to cite the following:
an image seen online
an image seen in person
an image seen in print
an image with multiple authors or no author
If you’re trying to cite an article, the Chegg Writing APA citation generator could help.
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Citing an online image in APA style
In-text citation template and examples:
Narrative:
Author Surname (Publication Year)
Eakins (1875–76)
Parenthetical:
(Author Surname, Publication Year)
(Eakins, 1875–76)
Reference list entry template and example:
Author Surname, F. M. (Publication Year). Title of the image [Medium]. Publisher or museum, location of the museum (if applicable). URL
Eakins, T. (1875–76). Gross clinic [Ink painting]. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, United States. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/10815
You should set the title of the photograph in italics and in sentence case. The medium should describe the type of image (photograph, painting, illustration, etc.) and is set inside square brackets after the title. You do not need to add “Retrieved from” before the URL.
Read this APA format guide for more style basics.
Citing an image seen in person in APA style
In-text citation template and example:
Narrative:
Author Surname (Year)
Carroll (1870)
Parenthetical:
(Author Surname, Year)
(Carroll, 1870)
Reference list entry template and example:
Author Surname, F. M. (Publication Year). Title of the image [Medium]. Publisher or museum, location of the museum (if applicable). URL if available
Carroll, L. (1870). Alice Liddell [Photograph]. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, United States. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/306205
Citing a print image in APA style
In-text citation template and example:
Narrative:
Author Surname (Year)
Blake (1997)
Parenthetical:
(Author Surname, Year)
(Blake, 1997)
Reference list entry template and example:
Author Surname, F. M. (Publication Year). Title of the image [Medium]. In Author F. Surname, Book title. Publisher.
Blake, Q. (1997). Danny and his father fly a kite [Illustration]. In R. Dahl, Danny the champion of the world. Random
Citing multiple authors in APA style
Two authors
The name of each author is listed. The word “and” is placed between the two names for narrative citations and an ampersand “&” is used between the two names for parenthetical citations and references.
In-text citation examples:
Narrative: Johnston and Endicott & Swett (1834)
Parenthetical: (Johnston & Endicott & Swett, 1834)
Reference list examples:
Johnston, D. C., & Endicott & Swett. (1834). “The government.” No. 1, eye take the responsibility [Drawing]. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., United States. https://www.loc.gov/item/2008661775/
Three to 20 authors
In the in-text citations, use only the first author’s surname from the reference list followed by “et al.” (“et al.” means “and others.”) Include all author names in the reference list entry.
In-text citation examples:
Narrative: Block et al. (1946)
Parenthetical: (Block et al., 1946)
Reference list examples:
Block, H., Wells, D., & Fright, S. M. (1946). Watching the ticker [Photograph]. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., United States. https://www.loc.gov/item/2012631729/
21 or more authors
In the in-text citation, use only the first author’s surname from the reference list followed by “et al.” (“et al.” means “and others.”)
For references, include the first 19 authors, followed by an ellipsis and then the last name (without an ampersand preceding it).
In-text citation examples:
Narrative: Cramblet Alvarez et al. (1968)
Parenthetical: (Cramblet Alvarez et al., 1968)
Reference list examples:
Cramblet Alvarez, L. D., Leach, J. L., Rodriguez, J. L., Thomas, A., Peter, B., Arock, C., Sam, K., Antony, J., Ajay, M., Rodriguez, K. M., Kathy, K., Vincent, J., Patel, N., Samu, P., Paneer, L., Bird, M., Fox, L., Anderson, A., Kamal, W., . . . Jones, K. (1968). Faro de las Cabezas de San Juan, Cabezas de San Juan, Las Croabas, Fajardo Municipio, PR [Photograph]. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., United States. https://www.loc.gov/item/pr0040/
Organization as author/publisher
An organization may be cited as the author of a work. In addition, you may (but are not required to) abbreviate long group names as long as the first in-text citation shows the group’s full name and abbreviations.
In-text citation examples:
Narrative: Historic American Buildings Survey (1933)
Parenthetical: (Historic American Buildings Survey, 1933)
Reference list examples:
Historic American Buildings Survey. (1933). 38 Church Street House, Charleston, Charleston County, SC [Photograph]. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., United States. https://www.loc.gov/item/sc0462/
No author
If the work does not have an author, cite the source by its title or use the first word or two in the in-text citation. If using a parenthetical citation and the title of the work is in italics in the reference entry, place the title in italics. If the title is not italicized in the reference entry, place the title in quotation marks. For example, a parenthetical citation might look like this:
In-text citation examples:
Wetting down and cooling (ca. 1907)
(Wetting down and cooling, ca. 1907)
Reference list examples:
Wetting down and cooling the bed of pig iron in a blast furnace, Pittsburgh, PA. (ca. 1907). [Photograph]. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., United States. https://www.loc.gov/item/2005691972/
For more information on citing sources in APA, also read these guides on APA in-text citations and APA reference page examples.
APA Style: Learn More
Frequently asked questions
To cite an image in-text, you need to include the artist or the photographer’s name and the year of publication, similar to how you would cite a journal article or a book chapter. The below table shows how the in-text citation is included for an image.
In-text citation template and example:
(Artist’s Surname, Publication Year)
(Rebecca, 1902)
To cite an image in an APA reference list, the core elements required are the photographer’s name, image title, museum or gallery name, and URL. The below table shows how the reference-list entry is included for an image in APA.
Reference list entry template and example:
Artist’s Surname, F. M. (Publication Year). Title of the image [Medium]. Name of the Museum. URL
Kiefer, A. (1985). Miracle of the serpents [Image]. The Met Museum. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/486562
Note
Write the title of the image in italics and sentence case.
The medium should be “Image” and is set inside square brackets after the title.
Do not give a period after the URL.
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