Image licensing

We have thousands of licensable images illustrating the history of London and its people, from prehistory to the modern day.

Our collection of images includes paintings, prints, drawings, maps, photography and objects including archaeological artefacts, costume and jewellery. We also have images and footage from the Port of London Authority Collection.

Our Picture Library team look after the licensing of these images so they can be reproduced or used commercially.

Finding images

You can browse our huge online collection to find images that you’re interested in licensing.

We're always adding new images to our collection, so we’re bound to have something suitable for your project.

If you’ve found an image of an object that you like, but need a little more flexibility, we can also organise new photography for you.

Search our collection

Getting images licensed

Once you've found images you want to license, please get in touch with our Picture Library team on [email protected]

And do tell us your deadlines, so we can prioritise anything that’s urgent.

  • Painting of a tranquil canal scene with boats, a wooden dock, and industrial buildings in the background, featuring a vivid, stylized color palette.

    Our collection is home to this painting of London Bridge by Charles Ginner, which can be licensed.

  • Black and white photo of children riding a carousel with wooden horses, while adults watch, and a boy in the foreground looks at a camera.

    Our photography collection can be licensed for use, like this one of Londoners sat beneath a Guinness advert in 1975.

  • Painting of a bustling evening scene on a city street with pedestrians and carriage traffic, featuring detailed architecture and soft lighting.

    An early 20th-century painting of Mornington Crescent that can be licensed for use.

  • 1925 wembley poster featuring a vibrant crowd at a night event, highlighted by a large illuminated sign, fireworks, and stylishly dressed figures in the foreground.

    This lithograph poster used as a bus advertisement is just one example of our huge collection of printed ephemera.

  • A detailed emblem featuring a gold starburst and a central medallion with a classical scene, set against a draped blue fabric with a red striped edge.

    Our team can take new photography of objects to suit your needs, like this detail on a cloak in our collection.