GET /pictures/search/

loc.gov:library-of-congress-api

Summary: Search pictures and photographs
Operation ID: searchPictures
Auth: none
Description

Search specifically within the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs collections

Parameters (4)

fa (string, query, optional)

Facet filter

fo (string, query, required)

Output format - must be 'json' for JSON response

Constraints: {'enum': ['json']}

q (string, query, optional)

Search query string

sp (integer, query, optional, default: 1)

Start page for pagination

Examples (3)

TitleTypeURLAction
Search for Lincoln photographs curl https://www.loc.gov/api/pictures/search/?q=lincoln&fo=json
Search with facet filter for specific collection curl https://www.loc.gov/api/pictures/search/?q=portrait&fa=partof:carte+de+visite&fo=json
Paginated search on page 2 curl https://www.loc.gov/api/pictures/search/?q=civil+war&sp=2&fo=json

Probe History

Latency

Status Codes

TimeStatusLatencySize
2026-03-23 10:10:55.691887 404 311ms
2026-03-23 09:49:10.094333 404 240ms
2026-03-23 09:02:45.478782 404 231ms

Response Changes

WhenOldNew
2026-03-23 09:49:10.094333 13be9c3743d7 1162b08a20f8
2026-03-23 10:10:55.691887 1162b08a20f8 5df19f6de301