How to Cite an Image in MLA 9
How to Cite an Image in MLA 9
In MLA 9, an image citation needs the creator, the title (or a description if untitled), the date, and where you found it. If the image is in your paper, label it as a figure, give a caption with full source info, and refer to it in-text as "see fig. 1."
The basic Works Cited format
MLA 9 uses the same core elements for images as for other sources:
Creator Last Name, First Name. Title of Work. Year, Institution or Website, URL.
Italicize titles of paintings, sculptures, photographs, and other standalone works. Put descriptive labels (for untitled images) in plain text with no quotation marks.
Painting or artwork in a museum
Van Gogh, Vincent. The Starry Night. 1889, Museum of Modern Art, New York.
If you viewed it online, add the website and URL:
Van Gogh, Vincent. The Starry Night. 1889, Museum of Modern Art, www.moma.org/collection/works/79802.
Photograph from a website
Leibovitz, Annie. Portrait of Patti Smith. 1996, National Portrait Gallery, npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.97.123.
Image from a book or article
Cite the image inside the larger container (the book or journal). Use "fig." and a number if the source labels it that way:
Adams, Ansel. Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico. 1941. Ansel Adams: 400 Photographs, edited by Andrea G. Stillman, Little, Brown, 2007, p. 152.
Untitled image
Replace the title slot with a brief description, no italics, no quotes:
Smith, Jane. Photograph of empty subway platform. 2019, Flickr, www.flickr.com/photos/janesmith/12345.
Citing an image inside your paper (figure caption)
When the image actually appears in your document, MLA 9 wants a figure label directly below it. The caption is a full citation, not a shortened one, so you do not need a separate Works Cited entry if the caption has every required element.
Fig. 1. Vincent van Gogh, The Starry Night, 1889, Museum of Modern Art,
www.moma.org/collection/works/79802.
Then refer to it in your text:
The swirling sky dominates the upper two-thirds of the canvas (see fig. 1).
If you do list it in Works Cited as well, you can shorten the caption to "Fig. 1. Van Gogh, The Starry Night."
In-text citations without a figure
If you discuss an image but do not reproduce it, cite it like any other source: author last name in parentheses. Images usually have no page number, so the name alone is enough.
The composition centers the viewer's eye on the cypress (Van Gogh).
Screenshots
Treat a screenshot as a photograph you took of someone else's content. Cite the original source, not the act of screenshotting. For a screenshot of a tweet:
@username. "Text of the tweet." Twitter, 14 Mar. 2024, twitter.com/username/status/123456789.
For a screenshot of a film still, cite the film and give the timestamp:
Parasite. Directed by Bong Joon-ho, CJ Entertainment, 2019, 1:12:34.
If the screenshot itself is your evidence (for example, in a UX or media analysis paper), add "Screenshot by author" in the caption.
AI-generated images
MLA treats AI tools as the source, not the author, because the tool does not qualify as an author under MLA 9 guidance. Credit the prompt writer in the text and cite the tool in Works Cited:
"Watercolor painting of a fox in a snowy forest" prompt. DALL-E 3, version 3, OpenAI, 12 Apr. 2024, openai.com/dall-e-3.
In-text:
The generated landscape flattens depth cues into a single plane ("Watercolor painting").
Note the date, the version of the model, and the exact prompt in quotation marks. If your instructor requires it, also state in a footnote or methods section that the image was AI-generated.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Do not put the museum or website in italics if it is the container; italics go on the work itself.
- Do not cite a Google Images search results page. Click through to the host site and cite that.
- Do not invent a date. Use "n.d." if the source genuinely has none.
- Do not skip the URL for online images. MLA 9 requires it.
Recommended
If you cite often, the manual on your shelf saves a lot of second-guessing.
Publication Manual of the APA, 7th edition (affiliate link — you pay the same price, we earn a small commission).