The idea behind WhenWhere

A photograph can hold a whole collection of clues: a building, a street sign, a gathering, a vehicle in the corner. WhenWhere invites you to slow down and notice them. Each five-round game combines a year guess with a location guess, followed by the story and source behind the image. Every reveal includes a basic caption and original credit; Plus adds the expanded Behind the photo account.

The game takes inspiration from geography guessing and historical photo games, while using its own visual identity and a two-part guessing experience. WhenWhere is an independent project and is not affiliated with GeoGuessr or TimeGuessr.

Real photographs, credited sources

The current archive contains 814 public-domain and openly licensed photographs. Their source records identify dates, locations, creators and reuse information. The collection includes material from the Library of Congress, U.S. National Archives, U.S. military collections, the State Library of New South Wales, Imperial War Museums, NASA and other public archives, accessed through the linked archive records.

Every round provides its source after you submit. A historical photo is never replaced with generated artwork. The colorful globe and mode illustrations in the lobby are decorative artwork used to introduce the game.

How dates and locations are handled

The game uses the documented year of the depicted photograph, not the date a digital scan was uploaded. Reviewed locations use source-recorded coordinates or a specifically identified landmark. Some practice photographs still have approximate reference locations; these are labeled before the guess.

This difference matters for aerial photographs, large gatherings and pictures taken across a river or harbor. Reviewed rounds use an individual full-credit allowance that accounts for the size of the visible site and the accuracy of the source. Approximate practice rounds retain a 25 km allowance. New daily draws and ranked games require reviewed locations. Read how location accuracy and allowances work for examples, or see the complete scoring rules.

Browse the source records

Browse 454 released source records below. Every photo provides its credit and source after your guess; unreleased daily photographs stay out of this list to keep the challenge fair. Opening these records may reveal answers to practice photographs.

1–20 of 454 source records
  • The first powered flight

    John T. Daniels / Library of Congress; restoration by Wright Stuf

    Public domain (published before 1931)
    How this photo was verified

    Camera coordinates recorded on Commons. Restoration removes damage; no generated scene. Location audit 2026-09-09 supersedes any earlier city approximation: Source-recorded location. Full location credit within 1 km; this is not a surveyed camera position.

  • A divided city from above

    CMSgt. Don Sutherland / U.S. Department of Defense

    Public domain (U.S. federal government)
    How this photo was verified

    Camera coordinates recorded on Commons. Existing Commons scan has color adjustments. Location audit 2026-09-09 supersedes any earlier city approximation: Source-recorded location. Full location credit within 1 km; this is not a surveyed camera position.

  • Opening the Harbour Bridge

    Hall and Co. / Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales, Home and Away 38540

    Public domain (Australia; PD-1996)
    How this photo was verified

    Pin represents the identified bridge, not an independently surveyed camera position. Commons mistakenly prints invalid coordinates for the library institution; those were not used.

  • Aircraft over a new bridge

    U.S. Navy / Naval History and Heritage Command, 80-G-418203

    Public domain (U.S. Navy)
    How this photo was verified

    Pin represents the southern end of the bridge identified in the caption, not the airborne camera position.

  • Crowds on the Champs-Élysées

    Jack Downey / U.S. Office of War Information / Library of Congress

    Public domain (U.S. federal government)
    How this photo was verified

    Camera coordinates recorded on Commons. Existing scan has documented color corrections and scratch removal. Location audit 2026-09-09 supersedes any earlier city approximation: Source-recorded location. Full location credit within 1 km; this is not a surveyed camera position.

  • VE Day in Whitehall

    British official photographer / Imperial War Museums, TR 2876

    Public domain (expired UK Crown copyright)
    How this photo was verified

    Pin represents Whitehall beside the old Ministry of Health and Cenotaph identified in the caption; exact camera location is unrecorded.

  • Marchers at the Lincoln Memorial

    U.S. Information Agency staff / National Archives, NAID 542054

    Public domain (U.S. federal government)
    How this photo was verified

    Pin represents the Lincoln Memorial steps identified in the source. Source JPEG is only 544 × 582.

  • A ceremony at the Municipal Building

    No. 9 Army Film & Photographic Unit; E. A. Taylor / Frederick Wackett / Imperial War Museums, SE 4705

    Public domain (expired UK Crown copyright)
    How this photo was verified

    Pin represents the Municipal Building, now part of the National Gallery; exact camera position is unrecorded.

  • A customs house beside the port

    Harry Grant Olds / Archivo General de la Nación Argentina

    Public domain
    How this photo was verified

    Year and named location documented in the source caption/date fields. Pin represents the named site or area; exact camera position is unrecorded.

  • A ceremony at the Cenotaph

    Unknown photographer

    Public domain
    How this photo was verified

    Year and named location documented in the source caption/date fields. Pin represents the named site or area; exact camera position is unrecorded.

  • An imperial durbar

    Unknown photographer

    Public domain
    How this photo was verified

    Year and named location documented in the source caption/date fields. Pin represents the named site or area; exact camera position is unrecorded.

  • An arsenal after the earthquake

    Unknown photographer

    Public domain
    How this photo was verified

    Year and named location documented in the source caption/date fields. Pin represents the named site or area; exact camera position is unrecorded. Low-resolution archival source; original available detail retained.

  • Generals at City Hall

    5th U.S. Army

    Public domain (U.S. federal government)
    How this photo was verified

    Year and named location documented in the source caption/date fields. Pin represents the named site or area; exact camera position is unrecorded.

  • A capital in ruins

    Maciej Świerczyński

    Public domain
    How this photo was verified

    Year and named location documented in the source caption/date fields. Pin represents the named site or area; exact camera position is unrecorded.

  • A tense border crossing

    Public Affairs Directorate, U.S. European Command

    Public domain (U.S. federal government)
    How this photo was verified

    Year and named location documented in the source caption/date fields. Pin represents the named site or area; exact camera position is unrecorded.

  • A street split by an earthquake

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

    Public domain (U.S. federal government)
    How this photo was verified

    Year and named location documented in the source caption/date fields. Pin represents the named site or area; exact camera position is unrecorded.

  • New Year on a busy street

    Colonel William E. LeGro / Vietnam Center and Archive, Texas Tech University

    Public domain (U.S. federal government)
    How this photo was verified

    Year and named location documented in the source caption/date fields. Pin represents the named site or area; exact camera position is unrecorded. Low-resolution archival source; original available detail retained.

  • Aircraft after the Gulf War

    U.S. Navy / USS Princeton 1991 cruise book

    Public domain (U.S. federal government)
    How this photo was verified

    Year and named location documented in the source caption/date fields. Pin represents the named site or area; exact camera position is unrecorded. Low-resolution archival source; original available detail retained.

  • Soldiers in a city street

    Staff Sergeant Jeremy T. Lockm, United States Air Force

    Public domain (U.S. federal government)
    How this photo was verified

    City-level Baghdad pin; source identifies Baghdad but gives no street or camera coordinates. Low-resolution archival source; original available detail retained.

  • Milk at a school

    U.S. Army Signal Corps / Signal Corps Archive, SC 170068

    Public domain (U.S. federal government)
    How this photo was verified

    Approximate Casbah area pin; original Signal Corps caption identifies a girls’ school in the Casbah of Algiers, without a street address.

A growing archive

WhenWhere offers random games, a shared daily challenge and historical collections. Signed-in players can resume saved games, track daily streaks and review their results. Photos can repeat across games as the archive grows.

Friend challenges let players compare results on the same five photos at different times. The daily leaderboard is optional. Private live rooms, team games and beta ranked duels are available in the latest build. Native mobile apps are not yet available.

Ready to look for the next clue? Start with our guides to reading historical photographs.