Take a trip back in time with The Met Museum’s digital collection, nearly 400,000 free images available

 

 

The Met Museum in New York City recently digitized its collection, releasing nearly 400,000 images for free under a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license. A CC0 license means that all of the images are available for unrestricted use.

You can search through the collection of digitized work here and utilize several filters to narrow your search. You could easily lose hours and hours while exploring photographs and artworks from a wide array of cultures over different periods time. I’ve selected a few of my favorite photographs, which you can see below.

 

[Two Chinese Men in Matching Traditional Dress] by Raimund von Stillfried, 1870s, Albumen silver print from glass negative.
 

 

"Barbichon. Jacques, Émile. 62ans, né à Provins. Marchand de Mouron. Anarchiste." by Alphonse Bertillon, 1891, Albumen silver print from glass negative. See the link to learn the very interesting history behind this photograph.
 

 

[Japanese Woman in Traditional Dress Posing Outdoors] by Suzuki Shin’ichi, 1870s, Albumen silver print from glass negative.
 

 

"Avignon" by Édouard Baldus, 1859 or after, Albumen silver print from glass negative.

(Seen via DIY Photography. Index image: "The Great Elephant" by Lala Deen Dayal, 1885-1900, Albumen silver print from glass negative.)