Media/Press Release:Indian Entry wins International Wiki Loves Monuments Photo Contest

Press Release

Date: 4 Dec 2012

Subject: Indian Entry wins International Wiki Loves Monuments Photo Contest

Wiki Loves Monuments (WLM) is a global photo contest that ran in September 2012. The 2011 version of WLM was recently accredited with a Guinness World Record for the World’s largest photo contest with 168,208 images being submitted during the contest. The 2012 contest was bigger than the previous year and the organisers will soon be approaching Guinness for a new world record with more than 3,50,000 images submitted during the contest.

In November 2012, the Top Ten entries from India were announced at a Wikipedia Workshop for Women in Mumbai. These entries were sent to the international jury and an image  of the Tomb of Safarjung in New Delhi by photographer Pranav Singh as the best image of 2012 globally.

India stood first in terms of maximum number of participants in the entire contest. Over 2,200 photographers contributed nearly 16,000 photos. Participants from India represented 15 percent of the 15,000 total contributors from around the world. Contest ran throughout the month of September 2012. Karthik Nadar, a passionate Wikimedian and current Secretary of Wikimedia India Chapter and Naveen Francis former Secretary of Wikimedia India chapter with support from several members of Indian Wikimedia Community coordinated the event in India. The Indian team had six juries, who had nominated 10 photos from 16,000 photos to be sent to the international jury; the team comprised of three professional photographers; Gauri Gill, Anup Mathew Thomas and Ryan Lobo. Jury team also had three trusted and experienced Wikipedians; Arun Ganesh, Kiran Ravikumar, and Sreejith K.

Home to several ancient cultures that date back to time immemorial, it should come as no surprise that India provided one of the biggest challenges in capturing as many historically significant sites as possible. With the help of the Archeological Survey of India lists, Wiki Loves Monuments organizers concentrated their efforts on shrines of national and international importance. Chief among those monuments is the Taj Mahal, which garnered first place in the national competition and sixth internationally. Shot against the red dawn, the image takes an original look at one of the world’s most admired man-made wonders. An image of Tomb of Safdarjung in New Delhi, India was rated first internationally and ninth in the national competition.The photo plays with the light and gives a wonderful contrast between the darkness of the room and the lighted tomb, giving it a dramatic effect. Other Indian finalists included photos of the country’s revered tombs, temples and military forts.

Blogpost: http://www.wikilovesmonuments.org/and-the-2012-winner-is/

For more information about Wiki Loves Monuments or to see more pictures from the finalists, visit http://www.wikilovesmonuments.org.

Wiki Loves Monuments international jury report 2012:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_international_jury_report_2012_low_resolution.pdf

Indian Entries which won at the International level:

Entry:Safdarjung’s tomb

Photographer: Pranav Singh, New Delhi

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_international_jury_report_2012_low_resolution.pdf&page=5

Entry:Taj Mahal

Photographer: Narender Kumar, New Delhi

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_international_jury_report_2012_low_resolution.pdf&page=10

Note to Press:

All the images which entered the contest have been released under a free license such as CC-BY-SA. You are free to reproduce them without permission as long as you comply by the license terms.

Media contacts:
 * Email us on: wlm@undefinedwikimedia.in or press@undefinedwikimedia.in

Coverage

 * The Hindu