What it does
Mary Evans Picture Library supplies historical and cinema imagery for editorial and creative projects. Its contributor collections bring together photographs, illustrations, postcards and other archive material.
The collection routes are useful when a period or visual style matters more than a single keyword. The Keasbury-Gordon lantern-slide archive includes early street scenes, industrial views and everyday activities, with descriptive titles and dates or periods attached to the results. Other collections cover postcards, caricatures and documentary photography.
For a card range or product concept, start with Mood Boards. These group vintage subjects such as Twenties Style, Art Nouveau and railway imagery into downloadable PDFs for creative meetings. The site also has a general library search, plus a separate Print Store for physical prints.
Strengths
- Named archive collections provide a focused route into historical material.
- Downloadable themed mood boards help with vintage product and editorial concepts.
Watch out for
- Its main focus is archive and historical imagery rather than contemporary stock photography.
Best for
- Picture researchers working on historical subjects
- Designers developing vintage cards or product ranges
Sources
- Mary Evans Picture Library Photo Images (Oct 27, 2026)
- Mood Boards Images (Oct 27, 2026)
- The Keasbury-Gordon archive of lantern slides Images (Oct 27, 2026)