Wikipedia:Picture peer review/Silhouetted Troops Marching

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Silhouetted Troops Marching[edit]

Original - Five soldiers silhouetted while on the march during the First World War Battle of Broodseinde

Ernest Brooks was one of the leading photographers of the First World War. Unlike many of the First World War photos this one is a high resolution scan and also happens to be one of Brooks' more famous images. The silhouetted contrast with the light shinning through the clouds is different from most war photography.

Articles this image appears in
Battle of Passchendaele, Battle of Broodseinde and Ernest Brooks (photographer)
Creator
Ernest Brooks
Suggested by
Labattblueboy (talk) 02:55, 8 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Comments
  • Lovely shot, poor reproduction. A great pity, as the print looks to have been a good one, just not very well archived; it was reasonably well scanned, but compressed way too much. Repairing the dust and damage would be a real chore as it's hard to tell damage from jpeg artifact. An uncompressed version at this size might have been a potential candidate. Which brings me to the copyright situation: are we sure this is PD by virtue of being owned by the British government? mikaultalk 08:58, 8 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I don't think an uncompressed image will be available short of ordering a digital print from the IWM or NLS. The image will certainly be PD. The photo was under crown copyright as it was created while Brooks' was employed as the British official war photographer. --Labattblueboy (talk) 15:18, 8 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Right, dim of me not to see the crown copyright. FWIW the image probably has enough value in its current state to nominate at WP:VP but the compression artifacts are certainly enough to scupper an FP candidacy. Looking at the source site, they're enough to ruin a detailed viewing there, too. I really don't understand the point of it in that context. mikaultalk 18:51, 8 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I may consider getting a IWM to do a scan of the negative. If I do, I'll be back. --Labattblueboy (talk) 22:23, 8 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
The scan this jpeg was made from would do, probably still on file so a nicely-worded email might do the trick. If you get it, let me know and I'll fix it up ready for FPC for you. mikaultalk 00:27, 9 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Seconder