Visual content research conducted at the end of last year demonstrated the overwhelming need for images, infographics or videos in conjunction with relevant content.
So, if you are not a photographer or you do not have the budget to hire one, we have complied a list of our favourite FREE, do what you want with, stock photography websites!
A reliable source for high quality and free stock photography from a community of professional photographers, Unsplash also has a good search facility with a vast collection of images. An excellent place to start if you are looking for something a little more specific!
Created by LEEROY advertising agency in Montreal and their network of talented photographers. Although they don’t have a huge database of photographs, there is definitely quality photography to be found here. Great for landscapes and scenery with a personal touch and no copyright restrictions!
With over 10 years worth of photography, Daniel Nanescu has generously made his personal stock of photographs available to all, completely copyright free! Why? So that you can give some life to photographs “that would have gone into oblivion without any utility.” An awesome statement for some equally awesome photographs! He makes his images very easy to access and download. There is also a variety of categories to choose from.
The Refe team understand the need for real, free stock photographs. Their main focus is on the use of technology, so this website is really useful for business/workplace orientated content. They are keen to evolve from the staged, all-white, office settings. Refe’s search facility is great, but downloading is a bit of a tedious process. Worth it in the end though!
With over 100 new images added weekly by their amazing community of photographers, you can expect to find what you are looking for here! The images are beautiful, but very occasionally it can be quantity over quality depending on what your search requests are. They have an excellent, in-depth searching tool to ensure you find a relevant image for your content. All photographs are copyright free and do not require attribution!
If you’re looking for something a little quirkier, Gratisography has what you need! We especially love the “people” category, where you will clearly see the style of photography by Ryan McGuire at it’s best! This site is great for when you need an image to really catch your audience’s eye. It is slowly increasing in size with a few images added weekly.
Recapture history with New Old Stock. A collection of vintage photographs dug out from the archives. There are no known copyright restrictions for any of these images so they would be great for any vintage themed work you are creating. Definitely worth a look.
Note: To our knowledge, all of these websites contain images that are free from copyright restrictions or licensed under creative commons public domain. But please check yourself if any attribution is required for any of the images you download before using them.
Bonus Tip: Check out Canva to create stunning visuals and boost your visual content marketing strategy. It’s free and very easy to use!
