Wikipedia is an extensive online encyclopedia that gathers a vast amount of information. Simultaneously, it is acknowledged that the profile images of famous individuals are often unattractive due to the terms and conditions for using images on Wikipedia and Wikimedia, which are free licenses that can be reused. This does not align with the beautiful images of famous individuals that professional photographers could sell.
One group of photographers noticed this issue and decided to launch a project called WikiPortraits with the goal of enhancing or capturing good photos of famous individuals for Wikipedia. WikiPortraits states that most of the distributed images of famous individuals are copyrighted by photographers or media outlets. The project is open to volunteer photographers who can participate in various events to take photographs. In some cases, photographers may have to cover additional costs themselves, but the objective is to provide images of famous individuals that various entities can access for free.
Currently, WikiPortraits has more than 30 volunteer photographers, with most of their motivation coming from the opportunity to participate in large events such as film festivals, which are not typically easily accessible, and to hone their photography skills by capturing photos of famous individuals during these events.
Images from the WikiPortraits project have been added to over 180 Wikipedia pages. Another motivating factor is that Wikipedia is a widely viewed database, with this image collection receiving over 100 million views per month.
Source: PetaPixel and WikiPortraits
TLDR: WikiPortraits is a project aimed at improving or capturing photos of famous individuals for Wikipedia, addressing the issue of unattractive profile images, with volunteer photographers contributing to over 180 Wikipedia pages.
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