User:Adam Cuerden

WHAT I DO

I do image restoration, taking an old image with flaws that make it unusable, and carefully fixing it back into a useful image. For example:

It requires careful work and attention to detail, and a willingness to spend a few hours removing individual dust spots with the healing brush, because you care about helping to share knowledge, and this is the best way to provide illustrations of that. My restorations currently make up about of all featured pictures on English Wikipedia, and you'd be surprised at just how much code I put in to keeping that as up to date as possible.

Fun fact, by the way: See those empty borders on images? They are the absolute worst, because the slightest discolouration will be incredibly visible. On some images, I've spent three times the effort on the bits no-one pays attention to... unless you don't spend that effort.

I've been working on a series of articles on how I research and restore images for the Wikipedia Signpost. You can read the first here.

In progress
Sort out commons:Category:William Byrne for which larger copies of practically every image are available.
 * If it's 2024, see https://bibliotheques-specialisees.paris.fr/ark:/73873/pf0001071313 which has just gone out of copyright.

https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b530503321/f1.item.zoom

Current nominations/Forthcoming nominations:
These are not featured pictures yet. But should be. They are either currently being voted on or will be soon. Hopefully.

Things either currently nominated, about to be nominated, or awaiting renomination
May also include things about to be nominated, but only when there's a problem at WP:FPC (or they're only nearly done, but will be done in a day or two. This is wildly optimistic in most cases, and you should really not pay attention to anything I say about scheduling.)

https://library.artstor.org/#/public/27593990 https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/npcc.02129/ Langston Hughes https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2009.39

https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1244293/doris-print-nicholas-hanhart/

Works in progress
Gorbals


 * Commons:Category:Glass plate negatives in the Swedish Performing Arts Agency - good source for a lot of Swedish actors.

To do
User:Adam Cuerden/To-do

Featured pictures
Images that have gone through the featured picture process and have been recognised as amongst the best on Wikipedia.

2024
These 35 restorations from the first months of 2024 make up % of all featured pictures on English Wikipedia. My goal for the year is 1%, which currently requires restorations. I am currently, with a projected % for the year. (Everything in this paragraph is automatically updated.)

= Featured pictures from previous years =

2023
These 57.5 restorations from 2023 make up % of all featured pictures on English Wikipedia.

2022
These 77 restorations from 2022 make up % of all featured pictures on English Wikipedia.

Things I gave up on passing FPC in 2022
Good restorations, but not good enough source material. Check later, but...

2021
2021... was not a good year for many reasons, chief amongst them the fact that the pandemic, meant to end by Christmas 2020... failed to do so. But at least I managed a single featured picture before it all fell apart.

2020
These 52.5 restorations from 2020 make up % of all featured pictures on English Wikipedia.

2019
These 98.5 restorations from 2019 make up % of all featured pictures on English Wikipedia.

2018
These 8 restorations from the last two months of 2018 make up % of all featured pictures on English Wikipedia. 2018 concluded a long Wikibreak, with me only rejoining in late November, so this isn't too bad numberwise. And, hey, wrote the music to an opera as well.

2017
2017 had a long wikibreak in it, that I never really left for long....

2016
These 71.5 restorations from 2016 make up % of all featured pictures on English Wikipedia.

2015
These 48.5 restorations from 2015 make up % of all featured pictures on English Wikipedia.

Notable non-restorations
Images I've found for Wikipedia, which were featured, but which didn't need much or any work beyond finding them.

2014
These 81.5 restorations from 2014 make up % of all featured pictures on English Wikipedia.

2013
These 66 restorations from 2013 make up % of all featured pictures on English Wikipedia.

Older (Highlights)
This list is not at all complete, but gives a sampling (111 images; % of all featured pictures on English Wikipedia) of my pre-2013 Featured picture work.

Faces of Progress
A project, in the wake of the 2016 American election, to restore one progressive activist's photograph from at least each state of the continental United States (I have some doubts about how readily accessible images will be for Hawaii and Alaska).


 * 1) Alabama‎ - Alva Belmont (File:Mrs. O.H.P. (Alva) Belmont (Cropped).jpg) and Rosa Parks (File:Rosa Parks being fingerprinted...) ✅
 * 2) Alaska
 * 3) Arizona
 * 4) Arkansas
 * 5) California - Alice Locke Park (File:Alice_Park_-_Records_of_the_National_Woman's_Party.jpg) ✅
 * 6) Colorado - Dr. Caroline Spencer (File:Dr. Caroline Spencer 275029v.jpg) ✅
 * 7) Connecticut - Lillian Ascough (File:Mrs. Lillian Ascough, chairman of the Connecticut branch of the Woman's Party.jpg) ✅
 * 8) Delaware - Mabel Vernon (File:Mabel_Vernon,_c._1917,_by_Edmonston,_Washington,_D.C..jpg) ✅
 * 9) Florida
 * 10) Georgia - Walter Francis White File:Walter Francis White by Clara Sipprell.jpg ✅
 * 11) Hawaii - Lili'uokalani (File:Liliuokalani, c. 1891.jpg) ✅
 * 12) Idaho
 * 13) Illinois
 * 14) Indiana - Ida Husted Harper (File:Ida Husted Harper photograph by Aime Dupont.jpg) ✅
 * 15) Iowa - Carrie Chapman Catt (File:Carrie_Chapman_Catt_-_National_Woman%27s_Party_Records.jpg) ✅
 * 16) Kansas - Iris Calderhead (File:Iris Calderhead.jpg) ✅
 * 17) Kentucky
 * 18) Louisiana
 * 19) Maine
 * 20) Maryland
 * 21) Massachusetts - Louisa May Alcott (File:Louisa May Alcott, c. 1870 - Warren's Portraits, Boston.jpg) ✅
 * 22) Michigan
 * 23) Minnesota
 * 24) Mississippi
 * 25) Missouri - Pauline Gracia Beery Mack (File:Pauline Gracia Beery Mack (1891-1974) (5493947511) - Restoration.jpg) ✅
 * 26) Montana  Jeanette Pickering Rankin (File:Jeannette Rankin, Bain News Service, facing front.jpg) ✅
 * 27) Nebraska
 * 28) Nevada
 * 29) New Hampshire
 * 30) New Jersey Lillian Feickert (File:Lillian Feickert c. 1912.jpg) ✅
 * 31) New Mexico
 * 32) New York Hester Jeffrey (File:Hester_Jeffrey.jpg) ✅
 * 33) North Carolina - Harriet Jacobs (File:Harriet Jacobs carte de visite - Restoration.jpg)  ✅
 * 34) North Dakota
 * 35) Ohio - Victoria Woodhull (File:Victoria Claflin Woodhull by Mathew Brady - Oval Portrait.jpg ✅
 * 36) Oklahoma
 * 37) Oregon
 * 38) Pennsylvania - Ida Tarbell (File:Ida M. Tarbell.jpg) ✅
 * 39) Rhode Island
 * 40) South Carolina
 * 41) South Dakota
 * 42) Tennessee
 * 43) Texas
 * 44) Utah
 * 45) Vermont
 * 46) Virginia -  Pauline Adams (File:Mrs._Pauline_Adams_147002v.jpg)  ✅
 * 47) Washington  - Emma Smith DeVoe (File:Emma Smith DeVoe by James & Bushnell.jpg) ✅
 * 48) West Virginia
 * 49) Wisconsin
 * 50) Wyoming

Featured Sounds
(List not complete by any means - I have 40% of all FSes, so I need to copy over a lot more =) )