Harvard Image Referencing Example: Photographs, Web Images and Book Illustrations

A Harvard image reference names the photographer or creator, the year in brackets, the title of the image, and where you found it, with a URL and access date for anything online. Harvard is a family of author-date variants rather than one manual, so the exact punctuation depends on the guide your institution follows. This page sets out the two variants most students meet, the Open University guide to Cite Them Right (OU/CTR) and the University College London Harvard guide (UCL), and shows the same fictional image written both ways.

Variants checked, as of 2026-10: the Open University library quick guide to Harvard referencing (Cite Them Right), checked on 29 October 2026; the UCL Library Harvard guide, pages on photographs and on illustrations, diagrams and tables, both marked last updated 29 July 2026 and checked on 29 October 2026. All names, titles and URLs in the examples below are invented.

Harvard image reference template

Choose the pattern that matches where you found the image. Each pattern below comes from the guide named beside it.

• Image on a web page (OU/CTR): Photographer (Year) Title of photograph. Available at: URL (Accessed: date).
• Image from an online collection or database (OU/CTR): Photographer (Year) Title of photograph [Medium]. Available at: DOI or URL (Accessed: date).
• Image on social media (OU/CTR): Photographer (Year) Title of photograph [name of social media site]. Available at: URL (Accessed: date).
• Photograph on the internet (UCL): Photographer, year in brackets, title in italics, then Available at, the URL and the date accessed (UCL’s template lists “Accessed/downloaded: date”).
• Printed photograph or slide (UCL): Photographer, year in brackets, title in italics, [Photograph], then place and publisher if available.
• Illustration, figure or diagram inside a book (UCL): Author of the book, year, title of the book in italics, place: publisher, the page reference of the illustration, then illus., fig. or diagram as appropriate.

Worked example (fictional photograph)

Imagine a photograph titled Fog over a harbour at dawn, taken by T. Marlow in 2019 and published on a web page. The same image, written in each variant:

Variant	Reference list entry	In-text citation
OU/CTR	Marlow, T. (2019) Fog over a harbour at dawn. Available at: https://example.org/images/harbour-fog (Accessed: 12 March 2026).	(Marlow, 2019)
UCL	Marlow, T. (2019). Fog over a harbour at dawn. Available at https://example.org/images/harbour-fog (Accessed 12 March 2026).	(Marlow, 2019)

The differences are small but visible: in UCL’s worked example a full stop follows the bracketed year and “Available at” and “Accessed” appear without colons; the OU/CTR pattern uses “Available at:” and “(Accessed: date)”. The in-text citation is the same in both, the creator’s surname and the year.

Online image vs. print photograph vs. book illustration

An image from a collection or database

When the image sits in a library, museum or stock collection, the OU/CTR pattern adds the medium in square brackets after the title, for example [Photograph]. Fictional entry: Okafor, N. (2021) Market stalls at closing time [Photograph]. Available at: https://example.org/collection/market-stalls (Accessed: 3 April 2026).

An image posted on social media

The OU/CTR pattern puts the name of the platform in square brackets where a database entry would carry the medium. Fictional entry: harbourlight_studio (2022) Lighthouse in winter [Instagram]. Available at: https://example.org/post/lighthouse (Accessed: 3 April 2026).

A printed photograph

UCL gives the photographer, bracketed year, italic title and the label [Photograph], then place and publisher if available. Fictional entry: Marlow, T. (2009). Harbour at night. [Photograph]. Lowport: Example Press. In text: (Marlow, 2009).

An illustration, figure or diagram in a book

The entry names the author of the book, not the artist, and adds the page reference followed by illus. Fictional entry: Okoro, A. (1997). Coastal survey atlas. Lowport: Example Press, pp.77-78, illus. In text: (Okoro, 1997, pp.77-78). For a chart you drew from data rather than copied, see how to cite a graph.

In-text citation for an image

Cite the creator and year in brackets, as for any other source: (Marlow, 2019), or Marlow (2019) when the name is part of your sentence. Both guides show the in-text form as surname and year only. When you take an illustration from a book, UCL adds the page numbers, as in (Okoro, 1997, pp.77-78). The general author-date rules are covered in Harvard in-text citation, and the full list layout in how to write a Harvard reference list.

What to do when there is no title

The OU guide says that if no title can be found, you replace it with a short description of the image. Write the description in the title position, for example: Marlow, T. (2019) Fishing boats moored at a harbour wall. Available at: https://example.org/images/boats (Accessed: 12 March 2026).

Checklist of required elements

1. Photographer or creator, surname first with initials, as for any author.
2. Year, in round brackets.
3. Title of the image, or a short description if there is none.
4. Medium (such as [Photograph]) or platform name (such as [Instagram]) where your variant uses one.
5. For a printed photograph, place and publisher if available.
6. For an illustration in a book, the book’s author, title, place and publisher, and the page reference followed by illus.
7. For anything online, Available at plus the URL (or DOI), and the date you accessed it.
8. An in-text citation of the creator and year wherever the image or its content appears in your work.

Choosing a variant

Pick one variant and apply it to every image in the same piece of work. If your department publishes its own Harvard guide, follow that where it differs from the patterns above. Related patterns for other source types are in how to cite a website in Harvard style and referencing legislation in Harvard style.

FAQ

What goes in a Harvard reference for an image?

The photographer or creator, the year in brackets, the title of the image, and for an online image the URL and the date you accessed it. A database image adds the medium in square brackets, and a social media image adds the platform name (Open University, Cite Them Right guide).

Does an image need an in-text citation?

Yes. Both guides checked show the creator’s surname and the year, for example (Marlow, 2019), and UCL adds the page range for an illustration taken from a book.

What if the image has no title?

The Open University guide says to replace the title with a short description of the image.

Sources

• Open University Library, quick guide to Harvard referencing (Cite Them Right): https://university.open.ac.uk/library/referencing-and-plagiarism/quick-guide-to-harvard-referencing-cite-them-right (checked 29 October 2026).
• UCL Library Services, Harvard guide, Photograph: https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/harvard/photograph (last updated 29 July 2026; checked 29 October 2026).
• UCL Library Services, Harvard guide, Illustrations, diagrams and tables: https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/harvard/illustrations-diagram-table (last updated 29 July 2026; checked 29 October 2026).