Subject guides: Chicago 18th (B) Author-Date: Images and captions

Images and captions

Format

There is no one exact format for captions, what you include will depend on the type of image. For example, artwork captions often include titles, while captions for diagrams, photographs etc often include a description or explanation.
Captions are usually positioned below the image and start with a figure number.
Spatial indicators such as “clockwise from left”, “left to right” or “top to bottom” are italicised within parentheses.
You can refer to images in your text by the figure number e.g. "..see Figure 1" or ..."(fig. 1)".

What to include

If the creator is unknown you can leave this part blank, or write ‘uncredited’ or 'creator unknown'.
If the date is unknown, you can include 'n.d.' (for 'no date'), or write 'undated', and/or include an access date if it is a digital image.
If there is no title, provide a description.
You can also include a List of Figures, in reference list format, providing the full details of the image. For example, the medium/dimensions of artworks, a photographer credit, the physical location of the item (often a gallery or museum), the resource you took the image from (e.g. a book or journal's reference details), a URL, a museum accession number, or copyright information (if you are publishing the paper).

Captions - Images of Illustrations (diagrams, maps, photographs etc)

Caption

Format

Figure Number. Creator, Title or Description/explanation, Year (if relevant).

Example

Caption

Figure 1. Palace of the Governors, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Undated photograph, circa 1900.

Figure 2. Schematic block diagram showing upper plate (top) and lower plate (bottom) of the Battle Lake thrust-tear fault system.

In the text

Refer to illustrations in the text by the figure number, abbreviated as fig. For example: "As can be seen in the Palace of the Governors (fig. 1) ... "

Captions - Images of Artworks

Caption

Format

Figure Number. Artist Full Name, Title of Artwork, Year of production.

Figure Number. Artist Full Name, Description, Title of Artwork or Exhibition, Year of production.

Example

Caption

Figure 1. Rose Nolan, Give or Take, 2017.

Figure 2. Yayoi Kusama with Infinity Mirror Room: Phalli's Field, Castellane Gallery, New York, 1965.

Figure 3. Eija-Liisa Ahtila, production still from The House, 2002.

Figure 4. George Stubbs, Tiger Skeleton, Lateral View, ca. 1795 - 1806.

In the text

Refer to illustrations in the text by the figure number, abbreviated as fig. For example: "Rose Nolan’s Give or Take is a feature piece of the Caulfield Library (fig. 1) ... "

List of figures

Format

Figure Number. Artist Surname, First Name. Title of Artwork. Year of production. Medium, dimensions. Collection, Location. Courtesy line. Photographic credit. URL or reference information for image source.

Figure Number. Artist Surname, First Name. Description Title of Artwork or Exhibition. Year of production. Medium, Relevant details including duration. Collection, Location. Courtesy line. Photographic credit. Copyright information. URL or reference information for image source.

Example

Figure 1. Nolan, Rose. Give or Take. 2017. Red and white ceramic tiles, 300 x 1,385 cm. Monash University Collection, Melbourne. Monash University Public Art Commission, 2017. Photograph: Andrew Curtis. https://www.monash.edu/muma/collection/100-works-of-the-monash-university-collection/100-works/rose-nolan.

Figure 2. Kusama, Yayoi. Infinity Mirror Room: Phalli's Field. 1965. Castellane Gallery, New York. Image courtesy: Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo. © Yayoi Kusama, Yayoi Kusama Studio inc.

Figure 4. Stubbs, George. Tiger Skeleton, Lateral View. ca. 1795-1806. In Lippincott, Louise and Andreas Bluhm. Fierce friends: artists and animals, 1750-1900, 64. London: Merrell, 2005.

Tips

For photographs showing details, artwork documentation, film stills or exhibition installations provide a description, as well as a title if available.
Adjust the List of Figures information as needed. For example, don't include the copyright information for internal university assessments, only for works to be published.

In-text citation - Visual material referred to in text

In-text citation

Format

(Artist Surname Year of production)

Example

"Elements of this can be seen in works like The House (Ahtila 2002) ... "

(Breuer 1925)

(Kusama 1965)

(Mies van der Rohe 1929)

(Nauman 1970)

(Nolan 2017)

Reference list

Format

Artist Surname, First Name. Year of production. Title of Artwork. Medium, dimensions. Collection or exhibition, Location. Museum accession number. URL.

Example

Ahtila, Eija-Liisa. 2002. The House. Super 16mm colour film transferred to a 3-channel video, 14 minute loop. The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago.

Breuer, Marcel. 1925–26. Club Chair (Wassily Chair or B3). Chrome-plated tubular steel and canvas upholstery, 72 x 78 x 71 cm. Museum of Modern Art, New York. Object no. 229.1934. https://www.moma.org/collection/works/2851.

Kusama, Yayoi. 1965. Infinity Mirror Room: Phalli’s Field. Sewn stuffed fabric, mirrors, 250 x 455 x 455 cm. Castellane Gallery, New York.

Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig. 1929. Barcelona Pavilion. Barcelona.

Nauman, Bruce. 1970. Live-Taped Video Corridor. Wallboard, video camera, two video monitors, videotape player, videotape, dimensions variable. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.

Nolan, Rose. 2017. Give or Take. Red and white ceramic tiles, 300 x 1,385 cm. Monash University, Melbourne. https://www.monash.edu/muma/collection/100-works-of-the-monash-university-collection/100-works/rose-nolan.

Tips

References to works of art, design and architecture are usually mentioned within the text and include the creator's name, the title of the work and the year it was created. Other details including media, exhibitions and collections can be narrated where relevant.
When visual material of this kind is the focus of discussion or analysis, an illustration is commonly included with an accompanying caption (see rules above).
If a citation is needed, follow these patterns. The dimensions of artworks are conventionally ordered by height, width, depth. Subsequent references can be shortened.

In-text citation - Images/Figures from other publications

In-text citation

Format

(Author Surname Year of publication, Pages, illustration type and number)

Example

(Sobel 1993, 87, table 5.3)

(Liebovitz 2002, 53, fig. 6)

... in Ann Hartley's Fields of Lillies, produced in 1912 (in Stands and Brown 2003, 22, fig. 5)

Reference list

Format

Author Surname, First Name. Year of publication. Title of Publication: Subtitle. Location: Publisher.

Example

Liebovitz, Annie. 2002. Dancers: Photographs by Annie Liebovitz. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.

Sobel, Richard, ed. 1993. Public Opinion in US Foreign Policy: The Controversy over Contra Aid. Boston: Rowman and Littlefield.

Stands, Gemma, and Anthony Brown. Landscapes: Artists and Flora. London: Phaidon, 2003.

Tips

If the image is produced in another publication, cite the figure number and give the full publication details in the reference list, using the referencing rule for that resource type.
These examples show an image sourced in a book. Adjust the reference depending on the type of publication providing the image.

AI generated images

For examples of references using images produced with generative AI tools, see Artificial intelligence.