Photographer Who Visited All 50 States Get Interactive Map of Her Images

May 09, 2026

Matt Growcoot

The Golden Gate Bridge illuminated at dusk, stretching across the water with the city skyline visible in the background under a clear, blue evening sky. — Carol Highsmith has been coast to coast.

Carol Highsmith has been documenting the United States since at least the 1980s. Some 100,000 images of American people and landscapes have been donated to the Library of Congress, where they are available under a Creative Commons license.

Now the aforementioned Library has built a new interactive map, charting Highsmith’s archive. The roving photographer has visited every single U.S. state and now web users can search and browse her photos on the easy-to-use map.

“After driving along America’s highways and byways for some 50 years, Carol has reached her goal of documenting each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico,” the Library of Congress writes on its blog. “More than 70,000 rights-free photographs are available worldwide with more images to come as Carol revisits some of her favorite places.”

Aerial view of New York City showing the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges crossing the East River, with the city skyline and skyscrapers visible in the background on a clear day. — Aerial view of New York City showing the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges crossing the East River.

Most of the photos on the map, which can be accessed by clicking on blue circles, are linked to a city or county. There are a small number that the Library only knows the state.

A map of the United States and Canada shows blue circles of varying sizes indicating the number of Carol Highsmith photos by location. The largest circle is over Washington, D.C., with smaller circles distributed across both countries. — This screenshot of the map gives viewers a flavor of what to expect.

“It is almost unbelievable that it is possible for her physical being to have gone to all these places,” writes Vivian Li, the Library’s Innovator in Residence. “It’s fun to see both things that I recognize … and things that I don’t even notice.”

Who is Carol Highsmith?

The Library of Congress calls Highsmith an “expert architectural photographer” who is able to find unusual vantage points of well-known landmarks, like the Golden Gate Bridge. She takes photos of national parks, artisans, signs, historic houses, and many other images that capture American heritage.

“Carol calls her photographs ‘shiny coins,’ making it clear that her goal is to show the beauty and optimism present in the United States, especially as we reach the milestone of a 250th birthday,” the Library notes.

A vintage "Motel Yucca" sign displays rates and vacancy under a clear blue sky. Next to it, a sign for "Little Chapel of the Flowers" advertises free internet wedding viewing. Palm trees and a small building are visible. — Old Motels and Historic Neon Art in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Highsmith hit the headlines about 10 years ago when she sued Getty Images for $1 billion after what she called “gross misuse” of almost 20,000 of her images. Essentially, because Highsmith’s images are in the public domain, Getty and other picture agencies were selling her images. But in what Getty called “several misunderstandings,” Highsmith was actually sent a bill for using her own photos. The case was eventually dismissed.

The interactive Carol Highsmith Photo Archive can be found here.

Image credits: Photographs by Carol Highsmith, courtesy Library of Congress