The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) utilizes various sources for its photographs, ranging from staff photographers to freelance contributors and wire services. While the exact sourcing for each image isn’t explicitly stated within the publication, understanding how to access the WSJ’s archives can offer insights into potential photo sources.
Accessing the WSJ through the University of Pennsylvania Libraries provides several avenues for researching articles and potentially identifying image sources. A subscription via your Penn email address grants access to WSJ.com. Factiva, accessible through the library, allows browsing recent editions (past two weeks) and searching full-text articles back to June 1979. Searching within Factiva by specifying “The Wall Street Journal – All Sources” allows for comprehensive results.
ABI Inform, another library resource, offers access to WSJ content dating back to 1984. This database provides access to both the print and online editions of the publication, enabling research across a broader timeframe.
ProQuest Recent Newspapers offers a unique resource: digital images of printed pages from the WSJ, New York Times, and Washington Post from 2008 to the present (excluding the most recent three months). Examining these digital replicas might reveal photographer credits or agency stamps adjacent to published photographs.
The Lippincott Library holds physical copies of the WSJ until they are digitized and available through ProQuest. For historical research, the library also provides access to WSJ issues in PDF format from 1889 to 2002 via ProQuest Historical Newspapers and on microfilm from 1920 to 2010. Contact the Lippincott Information Desk for assistance with microfilm access.
While these resources don’t definitively answer where each WSJ photo originates, they provide a framework for researching the publication and potentially uncovering clues about image sources. Examining articles within these databases, particularly older editions, may reveal accompanying photo credits. Furthermore, understanding the WSJ’s historical reliance on various photographic resources can inform research into potential sources.
