# Photo-First Assets (Wave 2.5)

This directory is the handoff surface for migrating from illustration-first to photo-first art direction.

## Current status

- `manifest.json` is the source of truth for photo slots and candidate sources.
- No third-party photos are vendored yet in this repo.
- Existing SVG placeholders remain as safe local fallbacks until approved photos are added.

## Folder intent

- `hero/` — homepage/detail hero photos (`.jpg`/`.webp`)
- `list/` — 4:3 and 1:1 card/list photos
- `detail/` — 16:9 or 3:2 detail hero photos
- `category/` — optional category cover photos
- `empty-state/` — optional minimal photographic empty-state support
- `credits/` — attribution and source snapshots when required

## Licensing guardrails

Preferred source order:
1. **Pexels** (free commercial use, attribution typically not required)
2. **Unsplash** (free use under Unsplash License, attribution appreciated)
3. **Owned/internal photos** (full control)

Rules:
- Verify license at time of download and record it in `manifest.json`.
- Never ingest images marked editorial-only or with recognizable private persons without release confidence.
- Keep `sourceUrl`, `license`, and `downloadedAt` metadata for every vendored photo.

## Integration

UI workers should consume `manifest.json` and gracefully fallback to local placeholders when `localPath` is null.