Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/Power house mechanic working on steam pump

Power house mechanic working on steam pump


This is an iconic Lewis Hine photograph from 1920, created for the Works Progress Administration. It appears in the articles Lewis Hine, Masculinity, Survey Graphic, and Mechanic. I added the following caption:

"Lewis Hine's 1920 Power house mechanic working on steam pump, one of his 'work portraits', shows a working class American in an industrial setting. The carefully posed subject, a young man with wrench in hand, is hunched over, surrounded by the machinery that defines his job. But while constrained by the machinery (almost a metal womb), the man is straining against it&mdash;muscles taut, with a determined look&mdash;in an iconic representation of masculinity."


 * Nominate and support. - ragesoss 04:32, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Weak Oppose Abstain Quite a bit of dust on the scan. Clean up can be done but a better scan would be the real fix to it. -- antilived T 06:42, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Weak Support. --⁪froth T C  07:09, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Suport. It would appear that the majority of the imperfections on the scan are scratches on the original, this would not get any better in the event of a re-scan. Otherwise, this is a beautiful picture, clear, engaging, and very encycolpaedic. Witty lama 18:20, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Support, Iconic image, all the important details are coming out clear. Night Gyr (talk/Oy) 18:25, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Comment I don't like the caption, though. The "metal womb" reference is misleading and probably not the original intent of the photographer.  Also, the WPA was founded in 1935, yet this picture was taken in 1920?  Either the attribution or the date is wrong. Night Gyr (talk/Oy) 21:24, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Yea, I had realized the WPA association was wrong (it's just in the WPA archives); that's no longer in the Commons caption. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out where it was published.  Not in the Survey Graphic, which started in 1921; probably The Survey, but I have found no evidence.--ragesoss 21:38, 8 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Ah, Hine worked for the WPA, but the work portraits were a separate, earlier project. Caption needs to be changed. Night Gyr (talk/Oy) 21:25, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
 * I think the caption should take out a lot of its poetic language, especially since we don't have the photographer's intent on record. Let the image speak for itself, instead of violating NPOV and potentially the photographer's intent. Night Gyr (talk/Oy) 21:28, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
 * I suppose I don't have any good arguments for keeping the caption except that I find analytical captions very helpful, and the photographer's original intent is not the final word on how images are read by viewers. If someone wants to change the caption, be my guest.--ragesoss 21:38, 8 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Support if for the "metal womb" aspect only.Niro5 20:48, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Support meets all the FP requirements, all around great photo. I agree that the "dust" appears to be from the original, and I don't think it detracts much from the value of the image.Bobanny 21:04, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Weak Support Hmm... Several imperfections, but an interesting image; I think it should pass. | A ndonic O Talk 23:06, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Support The dust marks are barely visible. Very clean for a historical photo.  And that's a huge wrench the man is holding!   Jumping cheese  [[Image:Misc-tpvgames.gif|18px]] Cont @  ct 08:43, 9 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Support, from the days when men were men. gren グレン 13:12, 9 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Support-Work on my man, Booksworm Talk to me! 18:27, 9 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Support. One of the most famous Lewis Hine's photographs and a iconic monument to proletariat. - Darwinek 19:40, 9 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Support. I like. Khoikhoi 23:40, 9 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Support - great-quality and iconic image, but the caption does seem a little bit like OR. --YFB ¿  23:44, 9 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Support -- Gawd that's cute!  B e  a  rly  541  08:32, 10 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Support Incredible picture, should be featured. It also has great image quality (technical attributes). Sharkface217 19:30, 10 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Support. Definitely not a girlie man. Nautica Shad e  s  14:27, 11 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Support. I have a framed postcard of this photograph somewhere around the house.  Remarkable image.Spikebrennan 18:11, 11 December 2006 (UTC)
 * [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|15px]] Support Either with preference for Edit 1. Nice photo --Fir0002 08:51, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Support I like the dust/scratch retouching and contrast work of the edit, but I prefer the higher resolution of the original. While I assume the downsampling was done to hide any minor focus problems, it also throws away detail.  Any chance of a retouched version at full resolution? --Dgies 07:37, 14 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Support Fantastic image. Staxringold talkcontribs 22:54, 14 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Support, wow, great picture. --Lewk_of_S e rthic contrib talk 17:07, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

Only one comment on the edit? I'll have to move this to the 'further input' section. Raven4x4x 05:16, 17 December 2006 (UTC)


 * I prefer the original resolution; I like being able to see a little grain on film photos.--ragesoss 05:30, 17 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Support - Cool. I like the edit a little bit better.  --Arctic Gnome 01:37, 18 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Support original I prefer the original, because the edit looks a bit too dark (that's probably just because I know the other version, but still...). And the resoltion is higher. –Wutschwlllm 21:09, 19 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Support Original A great photo in every way.-- ¿ Why  1  9  9  1  ESP. 17:53, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Support original. Noclip 05:18, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Support original. The edit has too much glare on the metal and bicep.--HereToHelp 23:53, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

Raven4x4x 01:42, 28 December 2006 (UTC)