Why Some Images Are Photographs and Others Are Reconstructions
Stories of History uses a mix of historical photographs, public-domain artworks, licensed archival material, and AI-assisted historical reconstructions. The goal is to help readers visualize the past while keeping the difference between evidence and illustration clear.
Last updated: September 10, 2026
Our Default Preference
When a reliable photograph, portrait, manuscript image, artwork, or archival source is available under public-domain or suitable licensed terms, we prefer to use it. These images are closer to the historical record and are usually the best choice for modern or well-documented people, places, and events.
Some historical subjects have no surviving image, no reliable likeness, or no reusable image that fits the page. In those cases, we may use an AI-assisted reconstruction to support orientation and atmosphere.
What Reconstruction Means
An AI-assisted historical reconstruction is illustrative. It is not a photograph, not a newly discovered portrait, and not documentary evidence. It is created to suggest a historically informed scene or person where a suitable real image is unavailable.
Reconstructions are guided by historical context such as period clothing, material culture, architecture, geography, written sources, and known visual references. They should not be read as exact likenesses unless the page clearly says a reliable likeness exists.
How Images Are Labelled
Figure pages may identify the main portrait as a historical photograph, licensed archival image, or AI-assisted historical reconstruction. Story step images may also use reconstructions when a scene needs to be illustrated without implying an exact photograph or likeness. These labels are intended to make an image's status clear without interrupting the reading experience.
Where an image has source, licence, or attribution requirements, we keep a public attribution record of the source page, licence, credit, and any transformation such as cropping or WebP conversion on our Image Attributions page.
Modern and Recently Deceased People
Identifiable modern or recently deceased people are handled with extra care. Where possible, these pages use real editorial, official, archival, public-domain, or openly licensed photographs rather than generated likenesses.
These images are used for educational and editorial historical context. They should not be used in a way that implies endorsement, affiliation, celebration, or promotional support.
Reader Feedback
If you spot an image that seems inaccurate, poorly labelled, missing attribution, or unsuitable for the subject, please contact us with the page URL and the image you want us to review.
You can also read more about our broader editorial workflow in How Our Content Is Created, or review source and licence notes in Image Attributions.
