Images for the lead
editIt is common for an article's lead or infobox to carry a representative image—such as of a person or place, a book or album cover—to give readers visual confirmation that they've arrived at the right page.
For some topics, selecting the lead image can be difficult. While Wikipedia is not censored, lead images should be selected with care . The lead image is perhaps the first thing to catch the reader's eye, so avoid lead images that readers would not expect to see there. Unlike other content beyond the lead, the lead image should be chosen with these considerations in mind.
Advice on selecting a lead image includes:
- Lead images should be natural and appropriate representations of the topic; they should not only illustrate the topic specifically, but also be the type of image used for similar purposes in high-quality reference works, and therefore what our readers will expect to see. Lead images are not required, and not having a lead image may be the best solution if there is no easy representation of the topic.
- Lead images for biographies should be of the person, not something associated with the person. The image can be a photograph, painting, sketch, sculpture, or other depiction. Grave markers or other memorials showing only the person's name should be avoided. An associated image (e.g. building designed by an architect, book written by an author, etc.) should not be used as the lead image if no appropriately-licensed image of the person is available. Such an image can certainly be used elsewhere in the article, especially when the work is notable and discussed in the article.
- Lead images for works of art should be of the most commonly used illustration for the type of work. For example, books are most commonly illustrated with an image of the book cover. Plays, movies, TV shows are commonly illustrated with posters and title cards. The most natural image for a painting or sculpture is an image of the object itself. If a appropriately-licensed image is not available, do not use an image of the author/artist/creator/director/etc. as, except for exceedingly famous individuals, most readers will not associate the image with the work and will not have visual confirmation that they've arrived at the right page.
- Lead images should be of least shock value; an alternative image that accurately represents the topic without shock value should always be preferred. For example, using an image of deportees being subjected to selection as the lead image at this version of Holocaust is far preferable to the appropriate images that appear later in the article that show the treatment of the prisoners or corpses from the camps.
- Sometimes it is impossible to avoid using a lead image with perceived shock value, for example in articles on human genitalia. Editors may assume, per Wikipedia:Content disclaimer, that readers are aware that such articles may contain such images.
- Per MOS:NOETHNICGALLERIES, using photomontages or a gallery of images of group members should be avoided in articles about ethnic groups or similarly large human populations. This does not apply to articles about things such as body parts or haircuts.
- On some mobile platforms an article's first image may be displayed at the top of the article, even if it appears well into the article in the desktop view. When placing images consider whether this phenomenon may mislead or confuse readers using mobile devices.