Wikimedia Commons – Picture of the Year Contest was first run in the year 2006 and is organized every year by Wikimedia Commons Foundation. The competition is open to everyone and the winner is decided by the votes of the participants and Wikipedia users. The images have to be shared under Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) license. Most images uploaded on Wikipedia fall under this category and are free for sharing if you give proper attribution to the original creators.
The pictures participating in this competition are some of the most amazing and wonderfully shot images you would ever see on Wikipedia. These photos were shot by professional as well as amateur photographers. Some images which fall under public domain like those released by NASA and other public organizations are also nominated for this competition.
Here, we have selected some of the most amazing photos from Wikimedia Commons which either participated in or won this competition.
The photo capturing Two Phyllomedusa rohdei was taken by biologist Renato Augusto Martins in the Atlantic Forest in Bahia, Brazil. The picture won the Wikimedia Commons Picture of the Year 2018 – Attribution: Renato Augusto Martins
A family of Wild elephants walking up a road in Khao Yai National Park of Thailand –Attribution: Khunkay
Male Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) chasing a bearded seal. – Attribution: Andreas Weith
NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft captured this High-res photo of Pluto on July 14, 2015. Winner 2015 Wikimedia Commons Picture of the Year. – Attribution: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute
Interior view of Nasir ol Molk Mosque, Shiraz, Iran. – Attribution: Ayyoubsabawiki
Milky Way above a lady’s silhouette, at Trona Pinnacles National Landmark, California. Attribution: Ian Norman
Julia Butterflies sipping tears from the eyes of turtles in Ecuador, as they bask on a log. This phenomenon is known as lachryphagy. Attribution: amalavida.tv
Astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson observing the Earth from the Cupola module of the International Space Station. Attribution: Tracy Caldwell Dyson / NASA
Astronomers observing the centre of the Milky Way using the laser guide star facility at ESO’s Paranal Observatory, Yepun. Credit:Yuri Beletsky (ESO).
Sarychev Peak Volcano erupting on June 12, 2009, at Matua Island (North Kuril Islands) – Credit: Original photo by NASA
Sikh pilgrim at the Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) in Amritsar, India – Credit: Wikimedian Paulrudd.
The Russian military honor guards welcoming U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Moscow, Russia, June 26, 2009. Credit: MC1 Chad J. McNeeley
