File:Nik Russian.jpg

A screenshot from The Great Reality TV Swindle, a documentary produced by Christmas TV for Channel 4 about a 2002 confidence trick perpetrated by a man known as Nik Russian.

The screenshot from the documentary was captured by the British magazine Closer for a 2013 article about the con, and was uploaded to Wikipedia by User:A Thousand Doors.

Great Reality TV Swindle

A single screenshot of a documentary that lasted approximately 45 minutes represents a very small portion of the original source. Presented in a scaled-down form of the original 4:3 aspect ratio. The entire frame is used so as not to misrepresent the subject.

Yes, such that pirating would be impossible.

Russian was the key figure of both the con and the documentary, and much of the media reaction centred on him. Many commentators speculated that Russian's physical appearance may have helped him to perpetrate the con – critics described him as "beautiful" and "Byronic", and noted that he "appeared every inch the cocky TV producer he aspired to be". This is discussed in the article, therefore it is necessary for the reader to see what Russian looked like to fully understand these assertions.

Following the con, Russian went into hiding. Apart from a brief interview in Richmond-upon-Thames where he apologised, he has not been in the public eye since 2002. According to Closer's 2013 article, "nothing has been heard of him since". He may well have changed him name. Searches on free image repositories have proven to be fruitless. As someone who is not a public figure and keeps a low profile, it cannot be reasonably assumed that a free alternative can be found and used in the article.

Use of this image will not limit the copyright holder's rights to distribute the original.