(6 Feb 2024) Free and low-cost stock photography collections tend to be generalist in nature. They are great if you just need a generic photo of a flower, a crowd of people or even a city. Unfortunately, they are unlikely to have photos of specific people, places, events.
For example, none of the three sites above have a recent or usable photo of Taylor Swift or King Charles (or Prince Charles). However, free and legal photos of both do exist, including ones in the public domain.
The secret is simple, when looking for a specific image, focus on Wikimedia Commons. According to their statistics, they have over 103 million files, including over 92 million images. All the images are free to use, albeit under a variety of different licenses.
As such, Wikimedia Commons is an excellent place to source certain kinds of images. However, it can be very intimidating to use, especially given the aforementioned variety of licenses.
Luckily, the process is actually remarkably simple and the site itself provides the tools that you need to make legal use of the images (and other content) contained on it.
Find out more on how to leverage on Wikimedia Commons better.
