Hi,
If you want photos of original S&W 1917s, try Gunbroker.com. There's a number of originals for sale including some in original condition. Maybe those sellers would allow you the use of their photos.
There were also many 1917 S&Ws made and sent to Brazil for either police or military use (I don't recall now) around 1937; some have come back into this country now and one can find pics of those. (Also S&W did a re-issue of the 1917 a few years back in hommage, and there are lots of pics of those as well, out there.)