Subject Guides: Theater: Visual Research

Finding Images in Books

You can find useful images by browsing through books. To locate books in the library, use SearchMore.

One way to find books that contain images is to include the phrases "in art" or "pictorial works" in your search. For example, if you are looking for books with images of London, you could try a search combining the term "London" with the term "pictorial works."

Make sure to take a look at the subject terms that are used to describe relevant results.

Subject Headings

Books are arranged on the shelves using the Library of Congress Classification System. This system groups together materials on similar subjects. Knowing the call number range for a particular subject will help you browse the shelves for materials.

If you would like to browse the art and photography books, see the subject headings in the Art subject guide.

These are some other subject headings that may be useful for visual research:

Clothing and dress
Clothing trade
Costume
Costume design
Decoration and ornament
Decorative arts
Design
Fashion
Furniture
Handicraft
Material culture
Set designers
Stage lighting
Stage management
Theaters -- Stage-setting and scenery
Theatrical makeup

Finding Images in Digital Image Collections

You can find many digital image collections on the Images and Primary Sources pages.

Recommended databases:

Artstor on JSTOR This link opens in a new window Artstor features millions of high-quality images and media from some of the world’s top photo archives, museums, libraries, scholars, and artists, including rare materials not available anywhere else. Artstor’s collections also include Open Access collections from partner museums freely available to all.
Bloomsbury Fashion Central This link opens in a new window Bloomsbury Fashion Central is a dynamic digital hub for interdisciplinary research in fashion and dress. Content is peer reviewed by industry and academic experts and includes interconnected major reference works, exclusive articles, scholarly eBooks, case studies, biographies, lesson plans, bibliographic guides, textbooks, video content, runway and backstage photos from fashion shows, and tens of thousands of images from museums around the world to create a rich educational resource.

Finding Images in Magazines

Popular magazines are a great place to look for images. If the play you are working on takes place in the past, you might browse issues of LIFE or TIME magazines from the period in order to get a feel for the way people dressed, furnishings that were popular, etc. Even if your play takes place in the contemporary world, you can get design ideas from magazines.

To determine whether we have a particular magazine in the library (either in print or online), search for the title in the Journals search box.

To search for articles in magazines and journals, go to the A-Z Databases list or a Subject Guide.

Selected Image Websites

FIT Museum Collections
The museum has a permanent collection of more than 50,000 garments and accessories dating from the eighteenth century to the present.
Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) Collections
Online search of the MET's collections with indicators for images in the public domain.
Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) Costume Institute
The Costume Institute's collection of more than thirty-three thousand objects represents seven centuries of fashionable dress and accessories for men, women, and children, from the fifteenth century to the present.
Digital Public Library of America (DPLA)
Drawing online materials from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States, the sets use photographs, posters, oral histories, video clips, and more.
Elizabethan Costuming Page
Resources and links for British and European Renaissance costumes
Europeana
Links 4 million digital items including images such as paintings, drawings, maps, photos and pictures of museum objects. Some of these are world famous, others are hidden treasures from Europe's museums and galleries, archives and libraries.
Europeana Fashion
Explore historical and contemporary fashion and how it influences our clothing, footwear, accessories and style. Discover sketches, designs and garments as well as catwalk photographs, catalogues and videos.
Motley Collection of Theatre and Costume Design
Collection of original materials on the theatre comprising over 5000 items from more than 150 productions in England and the United States. These materials include costume and set designs, sketches, notes, photographs, prop lists, storyboards, and swatches of fabric.
Sewing Patterns and Guides for Historical Clothing and Costumes
Provides costume-making resources from ancient Egypt to the 1950s.
V&A Theatre and Performance Collections
The V&A Theatre and Performance collections include over 3,500 stage costumes and accessories dating from the mid-18th century to today.

Lucy Scribner Library

Theater: Visual Research