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How to Cite a Photograph You Took Yourself

A photograph you took for this paper is part of the paper, not a source a reader can retrieve. APA 7 gives it a figure number, italic title, and an optional note (Publication Manual §§7.22–7.36). The MLA Style Center (1 June 2022) puts a caption under the image and assumes uncredited figures are yours. Chicago 18 §3.32 ends the caption with Photograph by the author. This is the own-work page, not how to cite someone else's image in APA or how to reproduce a figure.

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Photo: Thomas Martinsen, Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
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How to Cite Your Own Photograph: Quick Answer

If the photograph exists only in this paper, do not add a reference-list, works-cited, or bibliography entry. Number it as a figure, mention that number in the text, and say in the note, caption, or credit line that the image is yours. If you later published the same file — on a website, in a magazine, in a repository, or on a public social account — cite that publication with your name as author, the same way you would cite anyone else.

What to write under a photograph you took

APA 7 figure parts (Publication Manual §§7.22–7.36):

Figure 1 / Descriptive Title in Title Case / image / Note. Photograph taken by the author. Own work.

MLA Style Center caption (1 June 2022), unpublished photo of a real place:

Figure 1. Oculus. New York City.

Chicago 18 §3.32 credit line:

Figure 1. The Oculus, New York City. Photograph by the author.

APA 7, a published photograph (Publication Manual §10.14 #101):

McCurry, S. (1985). Afghan girl [Photograph]. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/national-geographic-magazine-50-years-of-covers/#/ngm-1985-jun-714.jpg

MLA 9, a photograph you published on your site (Style Center, 1 June 2022):

Mulligan, Lauren. "Fishermen at a Lake in Limpopo, South Africa." Lauren Mulligan, www.laurenmulligan.com/2016/6/25/fishermen-at-a-lake-in-limpopo-south-africa.

Official wording on own images and figure parts

All types of visual displays other than tables are considered figures in APA Style.
The figure number (e.g., Figure 1) appears above the figure title and image in bold font. Number figures in the order in which they are mentioned in your paper.
The figure title appears one double-spaced line below the figure number. Give each figure a brief but descriptive title, and capitalize the figure title in italic title case.
Include figure notes only as needed.
Unless otherwise indicated, the reader should assume that you are the author of the images included in your paper. Since the caption provides sufficient information, no works-cited-list entry is needed.
Unpublished photographs and works of art created for the assignment (or appearing only in the assignment/paper and no where else) are not cited - so they do not have a formal in-text citation or an entry in the reference list.

The first four sentences are the live APA Style figure setup page (last updated December 2021), which points at Publication Manual §§7.22–7.36. The fifth is the MLA Style Center note published 1 June 2022. The sixth is James Cook University's APA own-work page, a university restatement of the recoverability rule, opened 6 October 2026.

Do you need a citation at all?

A citation exists so a reader can find the source. A file that lives only on your camera roll cannot be found, which is the same reason APA keeps personal communications out of the reference list. What a reader does need is to know the image is original, when and where it was made, and what it shows. That information belongs with the figure.

Label it; do not cite it

  • A photograph you took for this paper and have not posted anywhere public.
  • A chart, diagram, or map you drew from your own observations.
  • A screenshot of your own software or your own document.
  • A table of data you collected yourself for this study.

Cite it like any published work

  • A photograph of yours that appeared in a magazine, book, or news site.
  • An image you posted on a public blog, Flickr, Instagram, or stock library.
  • A figure from a paper, thesis, or dataset you already published.
  • A data set you deposited in a repository with a DOI.

Course rubrics sit between the two columns. Many ask for Photograph by the author or Own work on every original image so a grader can tell your work from a download. A few still demand a reference-list line. Follow the rubric when it is explicit; when it is silent, use the style's own rule: label only.

APA 7: figure notes for photographs you took

APA's figure setup page defines five parts: a bold number, an italic title in title case, the image, an optional legend inside the image, and an optional note. A copyright attribution is required in that note only when you reproduce or adapt someone else's figure (Publication Manual §§12.14–12.18). A photograph you took yourself needs no attribution and no reference-list entry. The note is free to say what a reader needs: that the image is yours, and where and when it was taken.

APA 7, your own unpublished photograph as a figure

Figure number (bold, above the image):

Figure 1

Title (italic, title case, next line):

North Plaza of the Oculus

James Cook University restatement of an own-work note:

Note. Photograph of Hong Kong taken in early 2000s. Own work.

In the text:

The ribs of the roof are visible from the concourse (see Figure 1).

Reference list:

No entry.

What the APA note should say

  • Say the image is yours in plain words: Photograph taken by the author or Own work. JCU's restatement uses the shorter Own work; either is acceptable APA prose.
  • Give the place and date if they matter to the argument. A façade in 2025 is not the same evidence as one in 1995.
  • Explain anything the reader cannot work out from the image: what an arrow marks, which door is original, what the scale bar means.
  • Do not write a copyright-attribution sentence under your own unpublished photo. APA's From … Copyright year by … line is for reproduced material and would imply you reprinted the file.
  • Refer to every figure by number in the text. A figure that is never mentioned should not be in the paper.

The contrast: someone else's photograph, or a stock file

The moment the file is not yours, APA wants a copyright check. The live clip art or stock image page, reprinted by Alamo Colleges, splits that job by license. Microsoft Office clip art needs no attribution. A Pixabay file whose license says "no attribution required" is a numbered figure only. A Creative Commons photograph still needs the official copyright line and a reference.

Official APA 7 clip-art and stock-image wording

If the license associated with clip art or a stock image states "no attribution required," then do not provide an APA Style reference, in-text citation, or copyright attribution.
Although for most images you must look at the license on a case-by-case basis, images and clip art from programs such as Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint can be used without attribution.

Official no-attribution figure title:

Figure 1 A Striped Cat Sits With Paws Crossed

Note. Participants assigned to the cute pets condition saw this image of a cat.
Note. From Lava [Photograph], by Denali National Park and Preserve, 2013, Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/denalinps/8639280606/). CC BY 2.0.
Denali National Park and Preserve. (2013). Lava [Photograph]. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/denalinps/8639280606/

The cat note is APA's official no-attribution example. The Lava line is the official CC BY 2.0 sled-dog photograph; that is someone else's file, which is why it needs both the figure note and the reference. Your own unpublished photograph follows the cat pattern — number, title, optional note — not the Lava pattern. In a PowerPoint, APA makes the figure number, title, and note optional for no-attribution images; keep a short Own work credit if a grader has to tell your slide from a stock download.

Figures you made from your own data

The same recoverability rule applies to a chart you built from survey results you collected, a diagram you drew, or a map you made. Give the figure a number, a title, and a note that describes the data. There is no reference entry because the data have not been published. If you later deposit the data in a repository, cite the deposited set as in how to cite a dataset in APA.

APA 7 template for a chart from your own unpublished survey

Figure number:

Figure 2

Title:

Response Counts by Item, Spring Fieldwork

Note (template — replace the facts with yours):

Note. Data are from a survey conducted by the author. Error bars show 95% confidence intervals.

Citing a photograph or article you already published

Once the file is public, it is a source. Cite it in the third person with your name as author. The Publication Manual §10.14 photograph pattern — artist, year, italic title, bracketed medium, publisher, URL — is the same pattern whether the photographer is you or Steve McCurry. The artwork references page says that format also covers museum photographs. Do not write my earlier article in the reference list.

Official APA 7 published-photograph and journal-article patterns

Use this format to cite all types of museum artwork, including paintings, sculptures, photographs, prints, drawings, digital art, crafts, and installations.

Publication Manual §10.14 #101, a published photograph:

McCurry, S. (1985). Afghan girl [Photograph]. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/national-geographic-magazine-50-years-of-covers/#/ngm-1985-jun-714.jpg

In-text:

(McCurry, 1985)

Common Reference Examples Guide (3 March 2026), a journal article:

Niepel, C., Hausen, J. E., Weber, A. M., & Möller, J. (2025). Understanding mean-level and intraindividual variability in state academic self-concept: The role of students’ trait expectancies and values. Journal of Educational Psychology, 117(5), 772–788. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000946

In-text:

(Niepel et al., 2025)

Keep the official McCurry string as APA printed it. The hash URL now 301s to National Geographic's 50-years-of-covers article; if you opened a later story, cite that story. Put your surname where McCurry's or Niepel's sits. If you reprint your own published photograph as a figure, the note uses the From Title [Photograph], by A. A. Author, year, Source (URL) copyright-attribution order from the clip-art page, then the permission line your contract requires. Check whether you still hold the copyright before you write Copyright year by you.

Self-plagiarism and an old course paper

Reusing your own published words or data as if they were new is a separate problem from labelling a new photograph. APA's plagiarism page (Publication Manual §§8.2–8.3) is explicit. An unpublished paper from another course is not "published" in that sense, but most institutions still forbid submitting it twice without permission. If the instructor approves the reuse, cite the earlier paper as an unpublished work so the overlap is visible. The broader rules are in how to avoid plagiarism.

Official APA wording on plagiarism and unpublished work

Plagiarism is the act of presenting the words, ideas, or images of another as your own; it denies authors or creators of content the credit they are due.
Self-plagiarism is the presentation of your own previously published work as original; like plagiarism, self-plagiarism is unethical.
Some institutions may consider it self-plagiarism if a student submits a paper written for one class to complete an assignment for another class without permission from the current instructor.
Even images from the internet that are free or licensed in the Creative Commons need a copyright attribution if you are reproducing them in your paper.

Official unpublished dissertation pattern (§10.6):

Harris, L. (2014). Instructional leadership perceptions and practices of elementary school leaders [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of Virginia.

In-text:

(Harris, 2014)

Harris is the live unpublished dissertation example, not a photograph. Adapt the bracket to [Unpublished manuscript] or [Unpublished assignment submitted for COURSE] only when a rubric demands a reference line for earlier coursework. JCU tells students not to cite past assignments unless the lecturer asked for that reuse.

MLA 9: a caption, not a Works Cited entry

The MLA Style Center page "How do I credit myself as the author of a photograph?" (published 1 June 2022) is the current public rule. Accessibility decides the form. A publicly viewable photograph gets a works-cited entry with your name as author. A photograph that exists only in the paper gets a figure label and a caption; the reader is told to assume uncredited images are yours.

Official MLA Style Center own-photograph wording (1 June 2022)

How you credit yourself as the author of a photograph depends on the accessibility of the photograph.
If your paper discusses a photograph that is publicly accessible, such as on a personal blog or other public site, create a works-cited-list entry for the photograph.
Figure 1. Oculus. New York City.
Figure 1 shows the exceptional design created by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.
Designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, the Oculus is a structural tour de force (fig. 1).
Note that figure is abbreviated as fig. in parenthetical references but should be spelled out in prose.
In this instance there is no need to credit yourself as the author of the photograph.

The Oculus is a real transit hall at the World Trade Center, designed by Santiago Calatrava. The Style Center uses it as the sample you took. The caption is a place name, not a formal artwork title, so it stays in roman type. Because that caption already identifies the image, MLA does not want by the author and does not want a works-cited line.

MLA 9 caption parts for an unpublished photograph you took

Caption under the image (official Style Center form):

Figure 1. Oculus. New York City.

Handbook-style Fig. abbreviation, same facts:

Fig. 1. Oculus. New York City.

In the text, spelled out:

Figure 1 shows the exceptional design created by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.

In the text, parenthetical:

Designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, the Oculus is a structural tour de force (fig. 1).

Works cited:

No entry.

If you gave the photograph a real title, italicize that title as an artwork and keep the rest of the caption in roman. Untitled works take a sentence-style description with no italics and no quotation marks; those forms are in how to cite a source with no title. The Style Center's caption format page (28 June 2017) still shows the Fig. abbreviation used for someone else's work:

Official MLA caption for someone else's artwork, not your photo

Fig. 1. Mary Cassatt, Mother and Child, Wichita Art Museum.

When your photograph is already public

A file on your public site is cited like any other online image: your name, a title or description, the site as container, and a URL. The Style Center's own-photograph page gives one worked works-cited entry. The photographer URL returned 404 when opened on 6 October 2026; keep the official string rather than inventing a replacement address.

Official MLA Style Center published-own-photograph entry (1 June 2022)

Mulligan, Lauren. “Fishermen at a Lake in Limpopo, South Africa.” Lauren Mulligan, www.laurenmulligan.com/2016/6/25/fishermen-at-a-lake-in-limpopo-south-africa.

In-text:

(Mulligan)

Artwork reproduced from a book, museum, or magazine follows how to cite artwork in MLA. Your name goes in the author slot. Cite the copy you opened.

A photograph in a personal collection, when you are not reprinting it

If you discuss a private photograph without pasting it into the paper, MLA needs a works-cited line the reader cannot click. The Style Center's personal-collection note still carries an eighth-edition banner (published 14 November 2017). The ninth-edition handbook uses the same template: author, description, date, and Author's personal collection in the optional-element slot.

MLA Style Center personal-collection template (eighth-edition note)

Fanatic, Jane. Photograph of Jane Austen’s House Museum. 2 Sept. 2017. Author’s personal collection.

Jane Fanatic is the Style Center's specimen name, not a photographer to look up. Use it only as the official shape. If you instead reproduce that private file as Figure 1, go back to the Oculus rule: caption only, no works-cited entry.

Chicago 18: credit lines, not notes

Chicago handles illustrations in chapter 3, not in the citation chapters. CMOS 18 retitled the credit-line paragraphs; they are now §§3.30–3.38 (the CMOS 17 pair was §3.29–3.37). A caption identifies the figure. A credit line at the end of the caption identifies its source (§3.31). Section 3.32 is the author-as-source case: Photograph by the author or Drawing by the author. The University of Chicago Visual Resources Center restates the legal point: "Photograph by the author (you are the copyright owner of a photograph you have made)." No footnote and no bibliography entry accompany that credit.

Chicago 18, your own unpublished photograph

Caption with §3.32 credit line (same real building as the MLA sample):

Figure 1. The Oculus, New York City. Photograph by the author.

Terse form:

Figure 1. Oculus, New York City. Photo by author.

UChicago VRC sample language:

Photograph by the author (you are the copyright owner of a photograph you have made)

In the text:

The ribs of the roof are visible from the concourse (fig. 1).

Notes and bibliography:

No entry.

Chicago is flexible about the call-out: figure 1, fig. 1, and (fig. 1) are all acceptable if you stay consistent. Lowercase the word in running text; capitalize Figure only at the start of the caption. If a preface or acknowledgments page already says that every unattributed illustration is the author's — common in theses — §3.32 lets you drop the credit line.

Your own published work in Chicago

A published photograph, article, or public social post of yours is cited like any other author's work. The live Notes-Bibliography Quick Guide has no dissertation-style photograph specimen; it does have an Instagram post that is a photograph, plus the journal-article form you use when you cite an earlier paper. If you reprint your own published photograph as a figure, the credit line names the original publication and adds any permission wording the publisher requires. Artwork note-and-bibliography forms are in how to cite a reproduced figure.

Official CMOS 18 Quick Guide forms for a published photo-post and an article

The Instagram post included a photo of the president delivering a eulogy at the National Cathedral and referred to O’Connor as “gracious and principled” (@potus, December 19, 2023).

Notes-Bibliography, journal article (Kwon):

1. Hyeyoung Kwon, "Inclusion Work: Children of Immigrants Claiming Membership in Everyday Life," American Journal of Sociology 127, no. 6 (2022): 1842–43, https://doi.org/10.1086/720277.

Bibliography:

Kwon, Hyeyoung. "Inclusion Work: Children of Immigrants Claiming Membership in Everyday Life." American Journal of Sociology 127, no. 6 (2022): 1818–59. https://doi.org/10.1086/720277.

Credit-line template when you reprint your own published photo:

Figure 1. Descriptive caption. Photograph by the author, first published in Title of Source, Year.

Author-date

Chicago author-date moves the year after the name and cites (Kwon 2022) in the text. The caption and Photograph by the author credit for an unpublished photo do not change; author-date only affects published work. The reference-list forms follow the Author-Date guide.

Chicago 18 author-date, official Kwon article

In-text:

(Kwon 2022, 1842–43)

Reference list:

Kwon, Hyeyoung. 2022. "Inclusion Work: Children of Immigrants Claiming Membership in Everyday Life." American Journal of Sociology 127 (6): 1818–59. https://doi.org/10.1086/720277.

Someone else's photograph is a different job

Everything above assumes you made the image. The moment the photograph is someone else's, all three styles want a full citation — and a copyright check if you paste the file into the paper. Those forms are in how to cite an image in APA, how to cite artwork in MLA, how to cite a reproduced figure, and the atomic pages in APA, in MLA, and in Chicago. Permission is a copyright question, not a citation one.

Where your photograph is documented, by ownership and publication status.
SituationAPA 7MLA 9Chicago 18
Your own photo, unpublishedFigure number, italic title, optional note. No reference entry.Figure 1. Oculus. New York City. No works-cited entry.Caption plus Photograph by the author (§3.32). No note or bibliography entry.
Your own photo, publishedReference with you as author, following McCurry §10.14. Cited (Surname, year).Works-cited entry with you as author, following Mulligan. Cited (Surname).Note and bibliography, or a public-post form like @potus. Author-date cites (Surname year).
Your own chart from your own dataFigure note describing the data. No reference entry until the data are deposited.Caption: Data collected by the author. No works-cited entry.Caption: Data collected by the author. No entry.
Your earlier published paperCite it like Niepel et al. (2025). Quote or cite reused text (§8.3).Cite it like any article.Cite it like Kwon 2022.
Someone else's photoFull reference plus a copyright attribution in the figure note (Lava).Works-cited entry, or complete source in the caption (Cassatt).Note and bibliography, plus a credit line under the figure.

Common mistakes

  • Adding a reference-list entry for an unpublished photo that exists only on your device. A reader cannot retrieve it.
  • Leaving an original photo unlabeled when a rubric asks graders to tell your work from a download.
  • Writing APA's From … Copyright year by … line under your own unpublished photo.
  • Citing your own published work in the first person (my 2024 photograph). The reference uses your surname.
  • Reusing paragraphs from a published article without quotation marks and a citation. APA calls that self-plagiarism.
  • Submitting an old course paper as new work without permission, then citing nothing because "it is mine."
  • Forgetting to mention the figure in the text. APA numbers figures in the order they are mentioned.
  • Writing (Fig. 1) in MLA running text. The Style Center wants (fig. 1) and spelled-out Figure in prose.
  • Treating a public Instagram or blog file as unpublished. Once a reader can open it, cite the public copy.
  • Using this page for someone else's photograph. That case needs a full citation and often permission.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to cite a photograph I took myself?
Not in the reference list, if it is unpublished and you made it for this paper. Present it as a numbered figure. APA uses a bold Figure 1, an italic title, and an optional Note. MLA's Style Center caption is Figure 1. Oculus. New York City., with no works-cited entry. Chicago 18 §3.32 ends the caption with Photograph by the author. If the photo has been published anywhere public, cite that publication with your name as author.
How do I label my own photo as a figure in APA 7?
Publication Manual §§7.22–7.36: bold figure number above the image, italic title in title case on the next line, then the image, then a note only if the title is not enough. A useful own-work note is Note. Photograph taken by the author. Own work. Refer to the figure by number in your text. Do not add a copyright attribution or a reference-list entry.
What does an MLA caption for my own photograph look like?
The Style Center's 1 June 2022 sample is Figure 1. Oculus. New York City. In prose, spell out Figure; in parentheses write (fig. 1). Because the caption identifies the image, MLA does not want by the author and does not want a works-cited entry. If the same photograph is already on a public site, use the Mulligan works-cited form instead.
What is the Chicago credit line for a photo I took?
CMOS 18 §3.32: Photograph by the author or Photo by author, usually at the end of the caption. There is no footnote and no bibliography entry for an unpublished photograph of your own. If your acknowledgments already say that all unattributed illustrations are yours, the credit line can be omitted.
How do I cite a photograph of mine that was published?
Cite the publication with yourself as author. APA uses the §10.14 photograph pattern shown for McCurry (1985). MLA uses the Style Center's Mulligan website entry. Chicago cites a public post the way the Quick Guide cites @potus (19 December 2023), or cites an article the way it cites Kwon (2022). Do not invent a magazine name or DOI.
Is reusing my own earlier paper self-plagiarism?
Reusing your own published text or data without citing it is self-plagiarism in APA's §8.3 definition. An unpublished paper from another course is not published, so it is not self-plagiarism in that narrow sense, but most institutions treat resubmitting it as misconduct unless the current instructor agrees. When reuse is approved, cite the earlier paper as an unpublished manuscript so the overlap is disclosed.
Do I cite a chart I made from my own survey data?
No reference entry is needed while the data are unpublished. Present the chart as a figure and describe the data in the APA note or the MLA or Chicago caption. If you later deposit the data set in a repository, cite the deposited version with its DOI.
My instructor wants a reference entry for my own unpublished photo. What do I write?
Follow the rubric. Use the style's untitled-work form with yourself as author and a description in place of a title, then say in the figure note or caption that the image is yours so the two agree. APA template: Surname, A. A. (Year). [Unpublished photograph of …]. Institution. MLA still prefers the Oculus caption-only form; if a works-cited line is required anyway, the Fanatic personal-collection shape is the Style Center's older template.
Does a photo I posted on Instagram count as unpublished?
No, if the post is public. MLA's own-photograph page treats a personal blog or other public site as a citable container. Chicago's Quick Guide cites a public Instagram photograph in the text as (@potus, December 19, 2023). A private or friends-only file is still unpublished: label the figure, do not pretend a reader can open it.

Citing a photograph that is not yours?

The image citation generator builds the full APA, MLA, and Chicago entry for another photographer's work, including the description form for an untitled image. Use the checker on any published-work line you write in your own name.

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