Over 80,000 of our photographic records are online, with more being added each year. You can search or browse for these through our Search page.

In our photo reference area in the BC Archives Reference Room, there are a number of systems you can use to access images. The photo reference area is open during full-service hours. To access images, you can refer to:

Files or binders of photographic prints, which are organized in thematic series, and alphabetically, by:

Place Names

BC Industries

Names of Merchant Ships

Names of Naval Vessels

Surname of the person or family shown (portrait files)

First Nations Peoples' binders, which contain images of BC's indigenous peoples, organized by geographical region

Collection binders, which have prints from specific photographic collections (e.g. Maynard, BC Ministry of Tourism, etc.)

PDP binders, which contain 35 mm colour slides and/or black and white prints of some items in the Paintings, Drawings and Prints collection.

If there isn’t a reference print available, and the image you want is not viewable on-line, you may be able to access the visual records accession and view the originals it contains. Please note that it can take up to 24 hours for us to retrieve photographic accessions, and we can only access them during full service hours. Talk to the Duty Archivist in the Reference Room about viewing accession records.

If you are planning a visit to the Archives, and would like to access visual records, please contact us two to three weeks in advance so we have time to check the status of the material you want.