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Picture This: Powerful Images

May is National Photography Month—a perfect opportunity to bring the art and history of photography into your lessons. Whether you're exploring visual literacy, the evolution of technology, or the cultural power of a single image, this collection of resources has something for every classroom. From free image libraries and archival photographs to hands-on image creators and editing tools, these materials invite students to both study and create compelling visuals. Lesson-ready activities and interactive imaging tools round out the collection, encouraging students to look more closely at the world around them—and at the stories pictures tell.

Grades 6-12

George Eastman Museum

The George Eastman Museum is the world's oldest photography museum, housing more than 400,000 photographic objects from 1839 to the present day. Share these resources with your students to help them explore the full history of the art form.

Grades 1-12

Pixnio

Pixnio offers a large archive of public-domain images and free stock photos you can use for personal or commercial creative works, making it a go-to resource for free, high-quality photographs for student projects.

Grades 6-12

Remini AI

Remini is an AI-powered photo and video enhancer that transforms low-quality visuals into stunning HD, restores old and damaged photos, and offers tools for unblurring, denoising, color correction, and face enhancement—all in one place!

Grades 4-12

MyVocabulary.com - Photography

Share these themed puzzles that incorporate word lists of key terms like aperture, composition, lens, shutter, and viewfinder. Use the interactive puzzles and printable activities to build photography literacy and vocabulary.

Grades 6-12

Adobe Express Image Editor

Discover this free online tool for editing, animating, making collages, and sharing your digital photos. With the free plan, you can upload, edit, and organize up to 32 of your photos and images. You can also create videos.

Grades K-12

Getty Education- Curricula and Teaching Guides

Explore extensive curricula and classroom resources that integrate art across various subjects. Teachers can explore ready-to-use lesson plans, activities, and multimedia content tailored to diverse grade levels and topics, including photography.

Grades 2-12

Public Domain Pictures

Discover thousands of user-submitted photos released for unrestricted public-domain use, covering everyday subjects like landscapes, textures, and backgrounds—all free to download with no copyright restrictions. You can also upload your own photos.

Grades K-12

Unsplash for Education

Unsplash—an amazing site for finding free, high-quality images—has curated several photo collections for educational use. Topics include health, nature, politics, current events, and more. You can download images without registration.

Grades K-12

Free Online Photo Editor

Quickly enhance or edit images using the Free Online Photo Editor—no registration required! Upload your image or use a URL for online images. Use the site's drop-down boxes to add text and borders, enhance images, and apply filters and effects.

Grades 2-12

Photography from National Geographic

This resource shares iconic images, behind-the-scenes stories, and Pictures of the Year that highlight the impact of photography—making this a stunning, inspiring resource for exploring world-class photojournalism and visual storytelling.

This Week at TeachersFirst

Although our live spring virtual workshops have ended, we have over ninety self-directed professional learning opportunities to explore, including our on-demand workshops and professional learning units (PLUs). We're also sharing a blog post on photography and a paid opportunity to join our team as a part-time contributor. Read the details below!