Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/Grounded Mi-8

Chechen rebels down an Mi-8 helicopter edit

Voting period is over. Please don't add any new votes. Voting period ends on 7 Mar 2014 at 05:44:15 (UTC)

Original – A Russian Mi-8 helicopter shot down by Chechen fighters near the Chechen capital, Grozny.

Reason: As the rebels endure a cold December, they were able to down an iconic Russian Mi-8 helicopter further defying their enemy in their homeland. No other picture can speak as much volume about the Chechen conflict as this one. Please keep in mind that although the image is rather small (being less than 1500x1500 pixels), it hold historical significance in the Chechen wars.
Articles in which this image appears: First Chechen War, History of Chechnya, Second Chechen War, List of conflicts in Europe, List of revolutions and rebellions
FP category for this image: Wikipedia:Featured pictures/History/War
Creator: User:Evstafiev

Support as nominator --Khazar (talk) 05:44, 25 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose This is a valuable photo, but it doesn't really depict anything which grabs viewers' attention (it's a bunch of guys jogging away from a helicopter with no obvious context for what it's stated to depict), and what's the source for the image having historical significance? The First Chechen War features a number of superior images, with File:Evstafiev-chechnya-palace-gunman.jpg being excellent and probably FP-worthy (though it's also rather on the small side). Nick-D (talk) 07:58, 25 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose — Agree with Nick-D, and pic is 20 years old. Fog doesn't help. Sca (talk) 16:41, 25 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose. I'd actually be open to supporting this one if it was a little larger. I'd like to add that the obviously partisan tone of the nomination puts me off somewhat. J Milburn (talk) 17:04, 25 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose - solely on the grounds that it is a small image. Other than that, this is a picture that has everything that it takes to make a truly great record of a notable military incident. The atmosphere provided by the weather, (yes, the fog commented on above) contributes to the starkness of the image and gives a sense of the privations of war. The composition is excellent, with the foreground figures making a perfect arc, which was captured at the instant that it happened. If you compare the colour and composition, you will find it very similar (mirror image) to the iconic (Featured) painting Paris Street; Rainy Day by Gustave Caillebotte.

In terms of human interest, "bunch of guys jogging away from a helicopter with no obvious context" are amazingly expressive, everyone relating through his actions and the turn of his head the intensity and fear of the moment. The helicopter itself takes on the appearance of an object of menace. I is clear to anyone who looks for more than two seconds that these guys are not merely getting clear of the rotor. This photo is full of narrative content.

With regards to the patriotic sentiment with which it was presented here, yes, the picture does express all that. Amandajm (talk) 08:06, 4 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for the feedback everyone. I wasn't actually expecting this picture to become featured because of the size. The reason I nominated it was because it was very appealing and spoke magnitudes of narrative on many grounds. I'm glad to see that others here agree with me on that but alas, the diminutive resolution is too problematic to support my nomination. Khazar (talk) 04:17, 5 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Not Promoted --Armbrust ^{The Homunculus} 05:44, 7 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]