Is it OK to use a headstone as the primary photo when no other photo is available?

Question

Another person removed a headstone photo as the primary photo leaving the profile with no photo as primary. Is there a rule about headstone photos should not be used as primary?

I asked the person why and the response was "... I probably fixed an error, then removed the gravestone photo as the primary image. ... I beef up bios, add sources, and sometimes remove documents images, pdf swirly-image things, grave photos, etc as the primary. ... it's very simple to add an image back if you're not happy with the edit. ..."

I was not happy about this, nor the response and don't think someone else should be doing this just because they want to. I don't wish to go behind and redo what I already did.

Comments

Personally I think it's sad to use a gravestone photo as primary: that is not a good summary of an entire life. Showing the photo in the right margin is sufficient. But if you're the profile manager, Myrtis, it's your choice.

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I only wish to honor the people that I have researched. Many living ones do not have the time or resources to do what we do.

I appreciate all who read and posted a reply. I mainly wished to know if I was violating some rule by posting photos that I took and added here.

Thank you.

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Sadness at their demise is real.  It honours them, and it reflects our appreciation of their lives.  That's why tombstones are made.  I hope one day to read my older brother's tombstone and to learn something about him as his wife and children experienced his life, because I knew very little about him, having only two memories of him from my early childhood.

Answer 1

To me it is perfectly fine if nothing else is present. I don't think people should remove them just because they don't like to see a stone as the primary photo.

Answer 2

After I posted I see this has been addressed. It is Ok.

Answer 3

Where this does occur, including the PDF swirly thing, is actually a problem with WikiTree.

You can diligently set the image you are uploading to Source rather than Photo but regardless the system adds it as the profile picture. I have to say this is absolutely infuriating!

Comments

I upload jpg not pdf. I diligently upload as "source" all headstone photos as they are not people photos.

If no image then I want it to be the profile picture. Better than having a blank image displaying in family group sheets and other tree outlines.

My little brother Danny lived 2 days, only photo I have is him in his casket which can't be used, so I use his headstone for display.

My concern was that another person, decides to remove headstone from another profile that I created. This person should not remove what I added.

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I don't have a problem with headstones as the profile picture. What I was complaining about is that you click source but the image, whatever it is, gets added as the profile picture. That is incorrect behaviour. It should only be added to the profile as the picture if it is tagged Photo.

Regarding the removal, I agree with you. On Find A Grave if you did not add the photo you cannot remove it and that is, within reason, how it should be.

Answer 4

It is difficult to come to terms with a life being over even if they've been gone longer than we have lived. It is an honor to have their headstone as a primary photo when there isn't any other. Some would say it doesn't represent the life they lived but without other photos we'll never know. Also, when married couples have tombstones that either match or is all on one I like to have the tombstones/Headstones on both. I would say that the person who went thru your (as in manager) profile overstepped her limitations...she should have asked if you the manager wanted things changed as much as she did.

that's my take on this situation

Comments

Thank you Beth. Your comments were kind and I appreciate your time in posting.

Answer 5

Like a great many of you, many of my ancestors for whom I've created a Wiki profile died before photography was available.  Or, I just don't have any photos of these ancestors.  Heck, I don't even have a photo of my paternal grandmother, who died in 1944.  In these cases, a photo of their headstone is all that I have available.  Absent a photo of the actual person, a photo of their burial place/headstone is at least tangible evidence that they existed, and I think it's preferable to having no primary photo at all.

Answer 6

What is most important to me is the profile biography. My viewpoint has changed overtime to understand that the person's portrait, although nice, is secondary to a good biography.  I use gravestone photos in the biography, where the picture is placed so that the text of the biography wraps around the photo.  

Here is something I discovered: If the picture is on Find A Grave (lots of controversy if you can or can't use that photo and I'm not getting involved in that debate) but if you go to the profile of the one who added the picture to Find A Grave, they will often give permission to copy the photo for use on another site. Just  FYI

Comments

Hi David,  you are right!  I have asked for permission to use photos and even bios sometimes, and never was denied it.  Mostly, people are very accommodating and helpful.

Answer 7

I don't like it, partly because I've seen so many examples where the tombstone is modern and not even a replacement for a previous tombstone. But the worst in my opinion is using a generic picture of a tombstone for a profile. Whyyyyyy.