Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Colin Gifford

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 keep. Withdrawn by the nominator. (non-admin closure) Mhhossein ^talk 12:39, 2 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Colin Gifford[edit]

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BLP without any references other than to his own books. Rathfelder (talk) 16:31, 31 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Photography-related deletion discussions. Rathfelder (talk) 16:31, 31 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of England-related deletion discussions. AleatoryPonderings (talk) 17:01, 31 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

*Delete I have the feeling he’s well known and highly regarded but sadly not discussed at all in any RIS I can find. Mccapra (talk) 17:29, 31 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Comment - Here are some things I found: He has several photographs in the collection of the Science & Society Picture Library, which is “The official picture library of the Science Museum Group. Representing the visual collections of the Science Museum, the Science & Industry Museum, the Science & Media Museum, Locomotion and the Railway Museum, as well as select contributors.” [1]...I’m guessing his work is in the Railway Museum collection. Five of his photographs were used on commemorative stamps in 1994: [2] and there was some exhibition mentioned as well, “Art in the Age of Steam Europe, America and the Railway, 1830-1960” which I believe was at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum. Small blurb about the five commemorative stamps: [3] and here:[4] The stamps are in the collection of the Science Museum Group [5] Had an exhibition at the National Railway Museum in 1996 according to this: [6] Had an exhibition at the Kidderminster Railway Museum in 2009: [7] Book review here: [8] Book review on Mechanical Landscapes (blog) [9] Article about him here: [10] also mentions he’s in an exhibition at Newcastle Art Centre. Netherzone (talk) 19:34, 31 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Keep on the basis of sources found by @Netherzone:. Mccapra (talk) 21:25, 31 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Keep - I also found five newspaper articles: The Times (London)[11], Journal (Newcastle-upon-Tyne),[12], Evening Chronicle [13], The Tampa Tribune [14], and [15] I think these items plus those above push him over the edge into the keep zone. Netherzone (talk) 21:28, 31 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]
I would be surprised to find he wasnt notable. But biographies of living people have to have external references. Rathfelder (talk) 22:58, 31 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Rathfelder, I added a few citations, and cleaned up quite a bit of the flowery language, rumor and speculation, and also improved the way it is organized. It still needs a lot of work to bring it up to encyclopedic standards. My guess is that it was written by someone close to him given the level of detailed anecdotal material. Netherzone (talk) 15:35, 1 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Keep: In addition to the sources listed above, I find coverage of Gifford in A Photographer's Guide to Railways by Roger Siviter (1989) which credits Gifford with leading the "New Approach"; there's mention of Gifford on page 5 and page 54. There are also a few sentences in The Oxford Companion to the Photograph (2005) on page 534. Added to the sources already listed, I believe that this demonstrates notability. The article does need to be rewritten to remove the puffery. — Toughpigs (talk) 03:41, 1 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Keep As per the sources above. CreativeNorth (talk) 11:42, 1 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Keep sloppy nomination. --Dweller (talk) Become old fashioned! 12:06, 1 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Happy to withdraw in the light of Netherzone's improvements. Rathfelder (talk) 16:49, 1 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

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.