Photography Research

This guide is intended to help Photography students find resources and boost their research skillz. Here are some other guides you might find useful!

Art & Design Research Guide: For in-depth research help, including tips and tools
Visual Media Guide: For resources to help with finding, citing, and legally using visual media
Professional Resources Guide: For professional resources, like help finding jobs and writing an artist's statement

When doing research, try starting with @LL Search, it searches everything @ Lesley Library, including journal databases, book catalogs, eBook libraries, encyclopedia entries, newspaper articles, and streaming media!

Search Youtube for technique tutorials, like the Wex Photography channel, with featured artist series.
You can also search for specific techniques or computer programs online and add terms like "professional" or "advanced" so that you aren't getting advice for amateur photographers.

Search all the library resources in one place (search box at the top of the page). You'll even find eBooks you can read anywhere, like this one:

Lesley's MLA Citation Guide
Links to helpful resources for formatting an MLA paper, formatting citations, and creating an annotated bibliography

Lesley's Guide to Citing and Captioning Images
You cite the artwork itself, and then cite where you found it (book, online, magazine, etc.)

Art-specific annotated bibliographies

• Put the citation first
• Then write a short paragraph
  • short description of the work and the artist,
  • explanation of how this work is similar/dissimilar to your own,
  • focus on how you might use this work (as comparison to your own, as inspiration for a future direction you might take, to support a certain argument you're making in a paper, etc.)