Citing Primary Sources

To cite a photograph print, negative, or slide in a museum or collection in MLA use the following format:

Last Name, First Name. Photograph Title. Year Created. Medium. Museum/Collection Name, City.

A photograph titled “Student sit-in for Earth Day at Hillcrest Building” is found in the University Photographs, University Archives collection at UMBC Special Collections. Photographer William Morgenstern created the photograph on April 22, 1970. It is a Gelatin silver print.

Using this information, the MLA citation would be:

Morgenstern, William. Student sit-in for Earth Day at the Hillcrest Building. 1970. Gelatin silver print. University Photographs, University Archives. Special Collections. University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD.

If you are looking at the photo in a publication, add the publication information:

Last Name, First Name. Photograph Title. Year Created. Medium. Museum/Collection Name, City. Title of Publication. BY First Name Last Name. City: Publisher, Year. Page Numbers.

To cite a photograph from a digital collection, follow this format:

Last name, First name. Title. Date of composition. Photograph. Institution, City. Title of the Web site. Web. Day/Month/Year of access. <opt. URL>.

The digital image below can be found in the online Digital Collections of UMBC Special Collections. The photograph was taken by Mildred Grossman in 1958 and it is titled [Little Rock Nine students sitting in a courtyard, New York, NY, 1958].  It was accessed on July 3, 2014 using the following URL: http://contentdm.ad.umbc.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/p16629coll3/id/131.

Using this information, the MLA citation of this would be:

Grossman, Mildred. [Little Rock Nine students sitting in a courtyard, New York, NY, 1958] . 1958. Photograph. University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD. Digital Collections.Web.07/03/2014. <http://contentdm.ad.umbc.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/p16629coll3/id/131>.

If you are citing a photograph that you took, use the following format:

Last Name, First Name. "Photograph Title/Description." Year Created. Digital File Type.

To cite a photograph in Chicago, use the following format:

Last Name, First Name. Title. Year of composition. Medium. Dimensions. Place work resides.

An photograph titled “Student sit-in for Earth Day at Hillcrest Building” is found in the University Photographs, University Archives collection at UMBC Special Collections. Photographer William Morgenstern created the photograph on April 22, 1970. It is a 4 x 5 in. Gelatin silver print.

Using this information, the Chicago citation would be:

Morgenstern, William. Student sit-in for Earth Day at the Hillcrest Building. 1970. Gelatin silver print. 4 x 5 in. University Photographs, University Archives. Special Collections. University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

If you are looking at the photo in a publication, add the publication information:

Last Name, First Name. Title. Year of composition. Medium. Dimensions. Place work resides. Author, Title. Publisher, Date of Publication. Page Number. Plate/Figure Number.

To cite a photograph from a digital collection in Chicago, follow this format:

Last name, First name Middle initial. Title of Work. Format. City: Publishing Company, copyright date. Source, Collection. Medium, http:// (accessed date).

The digital photograph below was taken by Mildred Grossman in 1958 and it is titled [Little Rock Nine students sitting in a courtyard, New York, NY, 1958]. It is a part of the Mildred Grossman collection.  It was accessed on July 3, 2014 through the Digital Collection website of UMBC Special Collections, using the following URL:http://contentdm.ad.umbc.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/p16629coll3/id/131.

 Using this information, the Chicago citation would be:

Grossman, Mildred. “[Little Rock Nine students sitting in a courtyard, New York, NY, 1958].” Photograph. 1958. University of Maryland Baltimore County, Mildred Grossman collection.http://contentdm.ad.umbc.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/p16629coll3/id/131 (accessed 07/03/2014).

For Chicago style, you do not cite artwork or images that you created yourself.

To cite a photo in a museum or collection in APA, use the following format:

Artists last name, A. A. (Year of composition). Title of Work. [Format]. Place work resides.

An photograph titled “Student sit-in for Earth Day at Hillcrest Building” is found in the University Photographs, University Archives collection at UMBC Special Collections. Photographer William Morgenstern created the photograph on April 22, 1970. It is a 4 x 5 in. Gelatin silver print.

Using this information, the APA citation would be:

Morgenstern, W. (1970). Student sit-in for Earth Day at the Hillcrest Building [gelatin silver print]. Special Collections. University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD.

To cite a photograph from a digital collection in APA, follow this format:

Photographer last name, first initial. Second initial.  (copyright year). Title of photograph [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://

The digital photograph below was taken by Mildred Grossman in 1958 and it is titled [Little Rock Nine students sitting in a courtyard, New York, NY, 1958]. It is a part of the Mildred Grossman collection.  It was accessed on July 3, 2014 through the Digital Collection website of UMBC Special Collections, using the following URL:http://contentdm.ad.umbc.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/p16629coll3/id/131.

Using this information, the APA citation would be:

Grossman, M. (1958). [Little Rock Nine students sitting in a courtyard, New York, NY, 1958][Photograph]. Retrieved from http://contentdm.ad.umbc.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/p16629coll3/id/131

For APA, you do not cite artwork or images that you created yourself.