When using Laravel, the public directory is used for files that are publicly accessible. By default, it's stored in local and often stored in this storage/app/public directory. You can make it easily accessible by using the following command:
php artisan storage:link
Once, it has been created, you can use access those files using the public_path or asset methods.
echo public_path('images/sample_1.jpg');
echo asset('images/sample_2.jpg');