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Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/DutchGapb.jpg

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Original - African-American soldiers of the Union army, American Civil War, 1864.
Reason
A photograph from the American Civil War showing two African-American soldiers guarding a post near Dutch Gap, Virginia, 1864. Encyclopedic topic, high resolution file. What makes this click for me are the body positions of the soldiers: one flattens himself against the ruined farmhouse wall while the other takes cover behind a barrel. Restored from Image:DutchGap.jpg.
Articles this image appears in
Dutch Gap, United States Colored Troops
Creator
unknown
A large percentage of combat photography is staged even in modern times, it's kind of difficult for someone to stand out in the open to take pictures Thisglad (talk) 01:29, 10 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
So? We're not featuring those either. The point is that the pic has no historical significance. --Dschwen 01:36, 10 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Even if you think it has no historical significance, that is not the sole requirement for a featured picture. Brian0918's comment points out a few reasons of why it has encyclopedic value.: "Any encyclopedic value would be from the content of the image itself, not the historical significance. It shows the uniforms, poses, and weaponry of the time." Louis waweru (talk) 05:58, 12 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
And a high resolution well exposed color museum photograph would certainly do a better job illustrating these things. Sorry, this leaves nothing in favour of this pic. --Dschwen 15:12, 12 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Except that the museum photo does not show its content in context, whereas this photo is closer to reality. — BRIAN0918 • 2008-04-18 16:10Z
  • Support. Very high-quality for anything from that time period. Spinach Dip 19:14, 9 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose. Largely per Dschwen. Poses of soldiers are entirely unconvincing that they're in battle - they scarcely look interested, much less utterly focussed or scared as would be expected. To me this means EV and historical considerations are marginal. Overexposure on the left is almost painful to look at (note, I agree with Durova though that the composition is quite good, with the soldiers at right of frame looking to the left). --jjron (talk) 10:06, 10 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
    • Of course they're not actually in battle. Are you forgetting the exposure time on photographs back then? Any encyclopedic value would be from the content of the image itself, not the historical significance. It shows the uniforms, poses, and weaponry of the time. — BRIAN0918 • 2008-04-11 16:47Z
    • Comment The picture, overall, is just not good quality – I have seen better quality photos from this time period. The encyclopedic value is high, I'll agree. But the photo is extremely over exposed and nothing – except maybe the barrel – is in focus. crassic![talk] 05:52, 12 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
      • they didn't have autofocus or rangefinders in the 19th century, most images from this era actually look more out of focus than this Thisglad (talk) 09:48, 12 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
        • We've seen better examples here. --Dschwen 15:12, 12 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
          • Correct, there's hundreds of great photos from the ACW. Re Brian, a lot of the comments seem to be tossing up whether or not they're in battle - the point I was trying to make is not only are they most likely not in battle, it's not even a convincing act. I was actually referring back to the nominator's reason which referred to the body positions of the soldiers, and pointing out that to me it's not convincing. To illustrate uniforms and weaponry doesn't need a period picture, and there's lots better anyway. To illustrate the poses, well as I said the soldiers aren't that convincing, so firstly do I really believe their poses, and secondly are their poses really that amazing? --jjron (talk) 07:21, 13 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose Looks posed to me, too, which lowers the enc. Also, not-so-very-sharp in full size. --Janke | Talk 09:01, 13 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose. Janke is likely right, given that the soldiers haven't moved between the two exposures that constitute the stereograph, and the overexposure suggesting long shutter time. Papa Lima Whiskey (talk) 11:14, 13 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Just for the record: The stereo halves might have been shot simultaneously, with a dual lens camera... --Janke | Talk 07:17, 14 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Have you looked at the angle between those two images? Your lenses would have to be about two metres apart. Papa Lima Whiskey (talk) 15:30, 24 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • Weak oppose, being staged doesn't bother me so much but the blur on a staged photo does. I'd support if there was no better image of African American soldiers during the Civil War but I think there probably are. gren グレン 21:32, 13 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support; encyclopedic, quality issues go with the time, historically relevant, and utterly unreproducible. If someone else comes along with a better photo of black soldiers in the Civil War, will support replacing this with that, but til then... --Golbez (talk) 16:06, 20 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support - it's pretty good for that time, not to mention it has a pleasant composition (not counting the tech. quality of course), and its EV. diego_pmc (talk) 16:23, 24 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Promoted Image:DutchGapb.jpg --jjron (talk) 07:14, 25 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]