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The Gotfryd custom is the custom of replacing the lead image of an article about a person who has recently died with one that depicts them at the "prime time" of their life, usually them at a younger age. Although there are no guidelines nor policy which prescribe the practice, it is an unspoken custom on Wikipedia to change the lead image in this way for many subjects.

The "Gotfryd custom" refers to the common practice on Wikipedia where, after a person has recently died, the image is changed to show them at the "prime time" of their life. What exactly is considered the "prime time" of ones life is often disputed, but it is usually the time at which an individual reached the height of their popularity or importance. Since it is a common custom to depict articles about living people with their most recent pictures, their recent death means that there is a sudden change in the lead image of choice, commonly showing them at a younger age when they were more prominent. The difference from their age at death and their "prime time" can vary from a few years to entire decades. Perhaps a notable example of this custom being upheld is the image for Elizabeth II:

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  Lead image of Elizabeth II just prior to her death (September 7, 2022)
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  Image following her death (decided by this RFC)

Finding the "prime time" of a person can prove a challenge, as many people have periods of prominence which span such long stretches of time that picking a single moment to represent them in the lead image will be conflicting. Here are some tips for determining "prime time":

• pick images of the person where they are old enough to be of adult age, but not so old that they are in visibly declining health
• pick images of people from when they were active in their primary occupation, eg. if it is a politician, pick an image which depicts them from their time in office
• if the person is famous for winning a prestigious award, such as a Nobel Prize, pick an image from around the time of its reception
• if a person is remembered largely in part for their involvement in a specific event, pick an image from around the time thereof
• try using images from obituaries about the person for reference as to when they were in their height of prominence

The term "Gotfryd custom" derives from the photographer Bernard Gotfryd, who released his oeuvre into the public domain in 2016. Being a professional portrait photographer associated with Newsweek magazine, he captured many high quality portraits of the most famous people of his day (c. 1960s – c. 1980s). The Commons category of his photos consist of 1,327 files, meaning plenty of his photos are used across Wikipedia. The term was coined with reference to him due to the (admittedly perceived) phenomenon that, whenever someone Gotfryd photographed recently dies, the lead image is switched to one of his photos. Here are three known instances of this happening with his photos specifically:

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  Lead image for Mario Vargas Llosa (April 11, 2025)
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  Lead image immediately after his death (April 14, 2025)
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  Lead image for Tom Stoppard (November 14, 2025)
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  Lead image immediately after his death (November 29, 2025)
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  Lead image for Robert Duvall (January 29, 2025)
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  Lead image immediately after his death (February 16, 2026)

To be clear, the Gotfryd custom is not restricted to photos by Gotfryd himself. He is merely the chosen eponym due to the ubiquity of his photos.

Despite how often the Gotfryd custom is applied, there is not necessarily backing for it in any guideline or policy. Indeed, it is a silent consensus, but exceptions may be made. Sometimes the lead image already shows a picture of the "prime time" of a living person (even if they've lived for decades afterward), and so when they die, there is no change to the image. This is seen with many articles on United States Supreme Court justices or US presidents. Compare Jimmy Carter's article just before his death, and right after.

The custom does not have to be implemented immediately after a person's death as it is primarily a cosmetic change. Indeed, if it is a high-traffic article, it may be worth consulting other editors in the talk page as there may be conflicting opinions on which image to use. If there is a dispute, do not change the image from the previously stable version until a consensus is formed. Do not be surprised if it takes days or weeks until the custom is implemented. In rare cases, a request for comment may be necessary to finalize consensus.