Attribution is simply acknowledging where something came from and who created it or owns it.

In the context of photographs and drawings it means crediting:

• Who made it — the photographer or artist
• Where it came from — the archive, library, museum, or collection that holds it
• Any licence conditions — particularly if it comes from a source like Wikimedia Commons or a public archive that specifies how it must be credited

A typical attribution looks like:

“Photograph courtesy of Whitby Museum, date unknown, circa 1920”

“© John Smith, 1965, reproduced with permission”

“Source: Francis Frith Collection, public domain”

In the GhostViewer context specifically users need to think about two layers:

The historic photo — where did it come from, who owns it, is it out of copyright. Pre-1925 in the UK is generally safe as public domain but the archive holding the physical original may still have conditions on use.

The modern photo — who took it. If a community member photographs a location and uploads the matched pair, they retain copyright on their modern image.