Wikimedia Blog/Drafts/Chakraborty profile

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Wikipedia Commons contributor Joydeep Chakraborty hopes that her pictures will contribute to a deeper understanding of her country’s culture.

Chakraborty is from Burdwan, a small town in the state of West Bengal in India. She took this photo there last year while visiting temples during a celebration of the Durga festival.

“Durga festival is the major festival in our state and to all the Bengalis all over the world" she said. “Goddess Durga symbolizes the [triumph] of good over evil. [She] is treated as mother and is worshiped every year during October-November.”

Chakraborty’s photo depicts a sculpture of the goddess Durga with her sons and daughters overcoming the forces of evil. Chakraborty said the sculpture appealed to her because it’s “a very simple composition of the subject matter describing the subject. [T]his sculpture is unconventional and I find the composition simple yet interesting.”

Chakraborty’s passion for photography began when she was a child. She received her first film camera at age 11 and used it to document a family tour. She began taking photographs of many different subjects. “There were no particular types,” she said, “[what] ever look[ed] eye catching to me, I’d have a snap.” When she became a teenager, she moved on to digital cameras and found that she enjoyed taking macro/close-up photos of insects.

Chakraborty has been contributing to Wikipedia Commons for over a year. “I first created an account [on] English Wikipedia and started editing articles. Then I started contributing with my photographs and attaching [them] to articles…I saw Wikimedia Commons…and started contributing with [what] I consider [to be] my good photos.”

“It’s a great experience,” she said. “There are many experienced users who help [with] photography and identifying the subject matter.” This has proved particularly useful when other users helped to classify some of the photos of insects she’s been taking.

As a recent graduate with a Master of Science degree in Biotechnology, Chakraborty finds that insects are particularly interesting subjects to photograph. She’s shared many of her photos of insects on her commons page.

“It is a great feeling [to share] my photos with the world,” she said. “ It is great to know that many [people] around the world are viewing my photo[s]. “