Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Mat Hennek


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was   delete. -- Cirt (talk) 05:23, 20 May 2011 (UTC)

Mat Hennek

 * – ( View AfD View log )

Article about a published photographer with no sourcing whatsoever save his own website. The article is written by his management/publicity company, from an IP, and when blocked, continued by an account created for the purpose (as it has not posted to anything else). Flowery promotion text has been removed. Claims exhibits in galleries but links provided are to the galleries themselves, nothing on his contributions, amounting to no more than spamlinks for the galleries. Lots of claims, which only saved him from A7, but self-published material/self-promo does not an article make. Alexf(talk) 13:52, 12 May 2011 (UTC)


 * Delete Fails WP:BIO. Karl 334   ☞ TALK to ME ☜  14:01, 12 May 2011 (UTC)


 * Delete No sources, unless you count his own web site. I have also searched online and found absolutely not a single independent source giving any significant coverage. Personally I think it does qualify for CSD A7: I don't see any claims of significance, unless you count things like "Mat Hennek also took advertising pictures for major brands", and a list of famous people he has photographed, but notability is not inherited from something notable you photograph. The fact that he has had exhibitions in a number of commercial galleries does not establish notability: that is how artists sell their work, and how the galleries make a living. JamesBWatson (talk) 15:34, 12 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Photography-related deletion discussions.  — • Gene93k (talk) 17:31, 12 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of People-related deletion discussions.  — • Gene93k (talk) 17:32, 12 May 2011 (UTC)


 * Delete per nom and above. No objective sources, thus far just persistent attempts by subject's agent to create a promotional page. 99.184.134.27 (talk) 22:42, 12 May 2011 (UTC)


 * Comment. Some of what's above seems over the top. The nomination says: Claims exhibits in galleries but links provided are to the galleries themselves, nothing on his contributions, amounting to no more than spamlinks for the galleries. Well, he now has four "current" exhibitions, according to the article. Three of these aren't actually current by my understanding of the word; they're instead future. As for the fourth, I can't see anything on the gallery's site about the specific exhibition, but this may be because it's in Flash (which my browser doesn't show); the site does have this. (And of the three in the future, one, we're told, is at a Leica gallery. This Leica gallery is in Austria, and I don't know it; but to be exhibited in the Leica galleries I do know is not easy. Of course some of the exhibitions there are duds, as are exhibitions anywhere, but it does suggest that the photographer has "arrived". Although yet again this is an exhibition in the future, and no documentation has yet been proffered.) &para; Further: The fact that he has had exhibitions in a number of commercial galleries does not establish notability: that is how artists sell their work, and how the galleries make a living. Well, yes, partly. But commercial galleries don't sell photos in the same way that, say, bookstores sell books. The range is much smaller in the former than the latter, and being exhibited commercially is not a negligible achievement. &para; And so? I'm tending toward deletion, but in the meantime I point out the curious imbalances in this encyclopedia. (Consider: The fact that he has had played soccer in a number of commercial matches does not establish notability: that is how footballers earn their keep, and how professional clubs make a living.) -- Hoary (talk) 13:21, 13 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Yes, I see what you mean. However, what I was trying to convey is that any successful artist is likely to exhibit their work in galleries, so that the fact that one has done so does not in itself indicate any more notability than the general mass of artists, so that we need further evidence of notability. Perhaps I didn't express it very well. JamesBWatson (talk) 14:53, 13 May 2011 (UTC)
 * You make a good point in the soccer analogy, which I do understand, but after re-reading and thinking it over, I still maintain my original opinion. Thanks. -- Alexf(talk) 18:52, 13 May 2011 (UTC)


 * Delete as nom. -- Alexf(talk) 18:52, 13 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Per the above discussion, the analogy between exhibiting in a commercial gallery and participating at the professional level in sports is an apples/oranges comparison. Being exhibited commercially is not negligible, but it does not establish notability, especially if the exhibitions have not received objective coverage. If such analogies are used, I think a better comparison re: notability would be between an athlete competing professionally and an artist as subject of a museum exhibition--generally, solo exhibitions in those venues take on greater significance. WP:ARTIST is helpful here, and underscores what the article lacks, as well as what neither a Google search nor the agent's edits have yet supplied. (Not to be counted as a separate 'vote'; I'm the same contributor as the above IP). 99.156.68.228 (talk) 21:41, 13 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Being exhibited commercially is not negligible, but it does not establish notability, especially if the exhibitions have not received objective coverage. This is not unreasonable. However: I think a better comparison re: notability would be between an athlete competing professionally and an artist as subject of a museum exhibition--generally, solo exhibitions in those venues take on greater significance. They certainly do have a greater significance, and they are surely enough for "notability". However, in much of the world (e.g. Japan, where I happen to be), they're only staged for people who are already notable -- it's rare to be the subject of a solo museum exhibition if you're under 60, vanishingly rare if you're under 40. And people who are interested must decide to devote thirty minutes and (almost always) some money to the appreciation of work by that single person. Contrast the soccer player, who merely needs to be one of 22 people to whom people direct their attention. -- Hoary (talk) 00:14, 15 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Sorry to jump IPs again--I'm traveling while attempting to retain anonymity. I'm not sure where the artist/athlete comparison is going, but it seems like a side trip. I think Wikipedia too easily includes biographies of professional athletes who don't appear notable based on achievment or reliable sources, but that's a discussion for notability guidelines regarding athletes. As a practicing artist, I can vouch that there are probably hundreds of thousands who, like me, attempt to eke out a living in part by exhibiting commercially--one's notability is not established by virtue of such shows, but by published articles about the artist and their work. 64.222.237.179 (talk) 02:00, 15 May 2011 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.