The Getty Images Archive
Make history today
A music documentary? A sports campaign? An anniversary feature?
Whatever you've got in mind, you'll find something special in our playground for the curious.
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Build deeper connections with your audience through visual storytelling that draws on material you won't find anywhere else.
Start by exploring our online library of archival treasures, alongside comprehensive collections from major partners like the BBC, NBC, ITN, AFP, and Condé Nast.
Our physical collections in the UK, the US and France house millions more historic videos and glorious analog images—all looked after and made accessible by specialist teams.
The Getty Images Archive collection completely shaped our project. We made two hours of film based on all those photos that had never been seen before.
Tas Brooker, Producer
Connect with audiences hungry to see more of the recent past by telling stories with our content from the 80s, 90s, and post-2000.
If you want imagery that reaches further back, our archive can take you to the early photography of the 1800s and beyond through etchings and ephemera.
Our team can help you access our extensive offline material—including content from the BBC, NBC, and ITN.
History is restless and ever shifting.
Melanie Llewellyn, Curator, Hulton Archive
Search millions of digital assets on our website or explore by archive collection.
Explore archive visuals on gettyimages.comExplore video collections from our partners or watch our taster reel highlighting some of the key genres you'll find in our video archive.
Use our archive calendar to explore upcoming dates and anniversaries so you can plan your content in good time.
Stay close to our archival material and latest finds by signing up to our archive newsletter and following us on Instagram.
Let the experts from our global Research team help you find the perfect visuals to tell your stories—from digital curation to original content from our partner archives.
Interested in using archival material commercially? Don't let model or property releases hold you back. Start with a free assessment from our experts.
From the image that inspires a new project to selecting your final assets, you'll find a wealth of unique visuals in the Getty Images Archive.
With millions of physical assets to choose from, we use a blend of data and experience to decide which to convert into digital files.
Our teams analyse trends, carry out historical detective work, and nimbly respond to news-led interest in certain topics or personalities.
This growing online library represents just a fraction of our vast collections. If you're ever wondering what else we might have, the answer is always more than you expect.
Every single one is a physical thing you can hold in your hand.
Emma Lowe, Conservator, Hulton Archive
Inspire your own projects by hearing from customers using our archive to make history today.
The archive collection from Getty Images completely shaped our project. We could not have made our series without working very closely and collaborating with Getty Images archives.
Tas Brooker, Producer
What's it like to work with this mammoth and varied record of visual culture?
Hear from some of the many experts making it possible for new audiences to engage with history through unique archival imagery.
People often describe photography as like magic. Like all magic, it is fleeting. Film buckles, glass breaks, and paper tears.
Melanie Llewellyn, Curator, Hulton Archive
From the photographers who took era-defining shots to the imagery that shifts our shared understanding of the world, the Getty Images Archive connects you to the stories that make an impact.
If you'd like to discuss exploring our physical collections with our experts in person, speak to your Getty Images contact.
You'll see our online library continue to grow as our team creates millions more digital assets from the physical items in our collections. Expect regular uploads of newly discovered material.
Fresh revelations can come from any file or glass plate. Your next great idea might reveal itself tomorrow.
To receive monthly curations of our latest discoveries, sign up to our archive newsletter.
While unexpected finds are part of the enduring joy of our archive, we also purposefully unearth certain material as a priority.
You'll see plenty of new digital assets that depict historically underrepresented communities from across the decades—often as a direct result of our research.
Our team uses data and expertise to surface stories which have too often gone untold, so you can bring the richness of human experience to your own projects.
However niche, challenging, or light-hearted your story may be, archival material will help you tell it with conviction.
A beacon of editorial integrity, the Getty Images Archive is a growing record of life as it really was.
This trusted body of content includes the work of some of the most renowned names in photography. If you want to share something authentic, this is where you'll find it.
The biggest single concentration of our archival material—the world's largest commercial collection of photography under one roof—awaits you in London's Canning Town.
I remember first walking into the Hulton Archive and being blown away by the sheer vastness of its collections and just imagining the kinds of exhibitions and books that could be birthed from its holding.
Renée Mussai, Curator-Scholar
If you have a Getty Images account contact, let them know you're interested in exploring what our archive can do for you.
If you don't have a dedicated point of contact, use the form below to get in touch.
