Photographers are telling the famous bad celebrity pictures on Wikipedia

The organization “Wikiportraits” makes it our task to replace bad Wikipedia portraits.

Perhaps you know the phenomenon: You end up with a Google search to a person on Wikipedia (or go directly on the website) and will first be welcomed by a disadvantageous portrait photo of the personality.

Online encyclopedia has been notorious for its often inferior or completely outdated celebrity pictures for years; In the meantime, this resulted in a separate Instagram profile “Badwikiphotos”, which collects various bad recordings.

However, a growing community of committed photographers is actively working to fix this grievance: The Wikiportraits initiative has set itself the task of creating high -quality, freely usable portrait photos.

“For God’s sake, please take this photo down”

When Jeremy Strong, star of the successful series »Succession«, calls his own Wikipedia entry, he no longer has to live with an outdated photo from 2014. When the photographer Jay Dixit met him in a film screening in New York and asked if he could make a new portrait of him for Wikipedia, Strong reacted extremely positively despite the rejection of his publicist: “For God’s sake, please take this photo down.”

Wikipedia portrait beforehand
Wikipedia portrait afterwards

This anecdote is an example of a problem that also affects celebrities: the defective visual representation on the most used knowledge platform of the Internet.

The problem lies in the DNA of Wikipedia itself. The encyclopedia is based on the principle of free knowledge, so that all media used there have to be under free licenses.

Since professional photographers want to use their works commercially, amateur recordings or fleeting snapshots of events will find their way into the Wikipedia articles. So there are bizarre situations:

• The actor Jay O. Sanders is presented with a photo from an ancient Greek theater production from 2009.
• At football player Kyle Bartley, a referee finger seems to be in his mouth
• The actress Jeanne Tripplehorn, who was awarded an Emmy in 2009 for her representation of Jackie Kennedy in the film Gray Gardens, is represented with an image from 1992.

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“We have had this in mind for a long time,” explains Kevin Payravi, one of Wikiportraits’ initiators compared to 404Media. “In 2024 we decided to make the idea reality.”

The decisive starting point was the Sundance Film Festival 2024, where the group systematically set up a portrait studio for the first time and photographed celebrities for Wikipedia. Since then the Wikiportraits photographers have At around ten international festivals and award ceremonies, almost 5,000 freely licensed portraits created.

Between photo studios and red carpets

At major events such as the Sundance Festival, SXSW or the film festival in Cannes, the voluntary Wikiportraits photographers are present with two different strategies: On the one hand, they run temporary photo studios in which celebrities can pose specifically for professional portraits.

On the other hand, they are also on the red carpets, where spontaneous but high -quality recordings are created.

“Our priority is of course Wikipedia”emphasizes Payravi. Before each event, the team systematically analyzes which participating personalities already have a Wikipedia article, but still have no photo or just an inferior picture. These people are then at the top of the list of photo candidates.

The concept of Wikiportraits is in direct contrast to the traditional photo business. While commercial photographers sell their pictures to agencies such as Getty Images, which in turn supply the media and publishers, the Wikiportraits model works exactly: the photographers deliberately do without their copyright and put their works under a creative communs license that enables free use.

Event access and financing as a challenge

Since Wikiportraits is not an established news agency, the accreditation for events is sometimes difficult. The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, for example, declined an application last year on the grounds that only “editorial media” were approved.

Other organizers, on the other hand, show themselves more open -minded. “Wikipedia itself is a very strong brand,” explains Payravi. “If we are asked about our reach, we can answer with several billion users – that usually convinces.”

The financing remains a constant balancing act. The photographers not only bring their professional equipment with them, but also often also bear the costs for arrival and accommodation themselves. Although the project occasionally receives quick subsidies from the Wikimedia Foundation and private supporters, as Payeravi emphasizes, you generally work “economical”.

More than just better pictures: a contribution to digital diversity

In addition to improving image quality, the Wikiportraits initiative pursues another important goal: The increase in diversity in the visual representation. “Kevin and Jenny are constantly trying to find paths to tackle and correct the diversity blind spots in Wikipedia,” explains Sriya Sarkar, a videoor who has already documented three festivals for Wikiportraits.

• The problem extends beyond the pure image quality: Remarkable personalities from underrepresented groups are generally less often represented in Wikipedia.
• The targeted photography of these people not only contributes to the improvement of existing articles, but can also stimulate the creation of new entries and thus increase the diversity of the entire platform.

The effects of Wikiportraits now extend far beyond Wikipedia. In January 2025, according to Payravi Over 1,500 Wikiportraits photographs used on articles that together achieved 140 million views.

Numerous news organizations worldwide-including CNN Brasil, Times of Israel and many smaller, non-English-language media-are now falling back on the freely available picture foundus. “It has developed into a kind of mini photo agency that is accessible to organizations that Getty Images cannot afford,” explains Jennifer 8. Lee, co-founder of Wikiportraits.

Future prospects: expansion beyond the film world

After the successful start in 2024 with a focus on film festivals, Wikiportraits is now planning a thematic expansion. “We want to cover a greater variety of events,” explains Payravi. The agenda includes events such as the Jaipur Literature Festival as well as technology conferences-the CES in Las Vegas was already visited by Wikiportraits photographers last January.

With more than 30 active photographers, the network is growing steadily. The international distribution of images in Wikipedia versions in over 120 languages ​​testifies to the global relevance of the initiative.

• “A picture says more than a thousand words,” sums up Payravi. “The picture that appears first in the Google search results mostly comes from Wikipedia-that is what people see first and what they identify with you.”
• At the same time, the project enables ambitious photographers to present their work to an audience of millions. “It is a really fulfilling way for an amateur photographer like me to give something back and see how my photographs are used,” Payravi describes his personal motivation.