Provenance is a chain
A photo’s history can include a family scan, a former website, a museum catalog, an official collection and later copies. Write the chain down before selecting a crop or correcting a caption.
The caption is evidence, not decoration
Record the exact caption, its source and any catalog identifier. Then make a separate note about what the image itself shows. This gives later readers a way to understand why the identification was made.
Rights and history meet here
A public-domain government fact does not make every reproduction free to use. When rights remain unclear, use the source for identification and commission or generate a new explanatory visual instead of copying the image.
Source note. This page separates documented history, archival observation and editorial explanation. Where a source does not establish a detail, the detail is left open.