Browse by Topic
1,122 public-domain photographs, grouped by who is in them, when they were taken and how they were made. Every image is a free full-resolution download.
Subject
Victorian Portraits
295 photographs
American portrait photography from the Victorian era, 1880 to 1901, the height of the formal studio sitting.
Family Photographs
257 photographs
Family groups, siblings and generations photographed together, from parlour portraits to porch-step gatherings.
Edwardian Portraits
155 photographs
American portrait photography from the Edwardian years, 1901 to 1910, as the studio pose began to loosen.
Occupational Portraits
101 photographs
Americans photographed with the tools and storefronts of their trade: farmers, blacksmiths, shopkeepers, doctors and clerks.
World War I
91 photographs
Portraits of the Americans who served, enlisted and waited at home during the First World War.
Children
84 photographs
Portraits of American children: school groups, christenings, siblings and studio sittings.
Civil War
40 photographs
Portraits and photographs from the Civil War era.
Immigrants
36 photographs
Portraits of immigrant families and new arrivals who settled in America around the turn of the century.
Wedding Photographs
16 photographs
Wedding portraits and bridal photographs from the late 1800s to the early twentieth century.
Native American Portraits
13 photographs
Portrait photographs of Native American people held in public-domain archives.
Photo Format
Cabinet Cards
154 photographs
Cabinet card portraits, the standard studio format from the 1870s through the turn of the century.
Cartes de Visite
101 photographs
Carte de visite portraits, the small albumen card photographs traded and collected from the 1860s onward.
Nitrate Negatives
81 photographs
Portraits surviving as cellulose nitrate negatives, the flexible film that replaced glass and then destroyed itself.
Tobacco Baseball Cards
49 photographs
Studio portraits of ballplayers issued as cigarette-pack inserts between the 1880s and the 1910s.
Gelatin Silver Prints
40 photographs
Portraits printed on gelatin silver paper, the standard black and white process from the 1880s onward.
Tintypes
12 photographs
Tintype and ferrotype portraits, made directly onto lacquered iron plates and sold cheaply on the street.