Deadline: 30-Apr-23

Entries are now open for Wiki Loves Africa (WLA), an annual contest where people across Africa can contribute media (photographs, video and audio) about their environment on Wikimedia Commons for use on Wikipedia and other project websites of the Wikimedia Foundation.

Wiki Loves Africa particularly encourages participants to contribute media that illustrate a specific theme for that year. Each year the theme changes and could include any universal, visually rich and culturally specific topic (for example, markets, rites of passage, festivals, public art, cuisine, natural history, urbanity, daily life, notable persons, etc).

2023 Theme: Climate and Weather

• The theme Climate and Weather calls for the submission of visual representations of climate and/or weather. According to WHO, climate factors affects the social and environmental determinants of health – clean air, safe drinking water, sufficient food and secure shelter. This year’s theme celebrates the prevailing climates and day-to-day weather conditions of various locations on the African continent.
  • In what ways have people adapted to the climates in the area where you live?
  • What weather conditions do you associate with your lieu or habitat or country?
  • Have you observed any recent drastic changes in the climate or weather conditions of your location or another african location you visit often?
  • Images, videos and audio clips can capture these climatic and atmospheric conditions – thunderstorms, floods, clouds, winds, hurricanes, fogs, rainfall, sunlight, scorched earth, erosion, change in water levels, landscape vegetations, extreme heat, snow, ice, extreme cold, etc.

Prizes

• There are several prizes up for grabs, both nationally and internationally. For national prizes, please see what events are being held locally in your country.
• At the international level, there are 3 main prizes for Wiki Loves Africa, and as with every year, there will be two additional prize categories for photos and media.
• The international prizes are:
  • Photography:
    • 1st prize: US$2000
    • 2nd prize: US$1500
    • 3rd prize: US$1000
    • 4th Prize : US$ 750
  • Media (Video, Audio, Graphics, Photo Essays):
    • Best audio or video prize : US$ 1,000
    • Best graphics: US$ 750
  • Africa Environment Video Prize: Best video representation of the impact of climate change : US$ 2,000
  • Africa Environment Special Collection Prize: Best collections of images showing the impact of climate change : US$ 1,200
  • Disclaimer: Prize money may be dispensed in a gift card or voucher format.

The Winners

• Each year it is a tough choice to choose the final winning images. The 2023 winners will not be announced until July/August 2023, but there are many beautiful winning photos that have been selected over the last 8 years!

Eligibility Criteria

• The contest operates in all African countries (and beyond…). In some countries, local teams organize events and can help you. Do not hesitate to get in touch with them.

Competition Rules

• Rule 1: All photos must be taken by the person submitting them. Unless, they are uploaded during a registered mass upload session. Your image must have your name, username or nom de plume on the uploaded file.
• Rule 2: Entries will only be accepted if uploaded between the 1st March to 30th April 2023. You can enter media that was taken at any time, even historic photographs (as long as you own the copyright on these photographs or they are in the public domain), but they must be uploaded during those dates. Photographs that are already on Commons and re-uploaded are not eligible.
• Rule 3: Participants must be registered on Wikimedia Commons and be contactable. Please enable e-mail on Wikimedia Commons when registering so we can contact you if your image is chosen for a prize.
• Rule 4: All entries submitted to the contest must be under a free licence (or in the public domain). In most cases, the photo will automatically be licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 (CC-BY-SA 4.0). Read more about the cc-by-sa license here.
• Rule 5: Images that are less than 2 mb or have watermarks or embedded signatures will not be eligible.
• Rule 6: Pictures or media must be categorised under Images from Wiki Loves Africa 2023 to be eligible.
• Rule 7: To be considered for the video prize, the file must be uploaded in a video format (.ogg, .ogv, or .webm) that is accepted on Wikimedia Commons. Please note that the audio and visual quality and storytelling will be taken into account for your file to be eligible for a prize.

Judging Criteria

• The judging will be done by a panel of international Wikipedians, professional photographers and subject specialists, based of thumb rules of photography and as well as the community standards.
• A good photo has a good story to tell.
• A good photo removes all unnecessary distractions from the chief element, so that the latter is not out of the focus.
• Potential usefulness and overall value of the image (including its licensing) to the Wikimedia projects.
• Technical quality – Image parameters such as focus, lighting, saturation, ISO etc. will be taken into consideration.
• The jury will judge individual entries based on the following criteria:
  • Technical quality
  • Originality
• Potential usefulness and overall value of the image (including its licensing) to the Wikimedia projects.

Ineligibility

• Photographs that are already on Commons (this means re-uploading is not allowed).
• As the images will be hosted on Wikimedia Commons, all entries must fall within Commons scope. Any that do not will be disqualified and may be deleted without notice.
• Images with watermarks, timestamps or image credits on the picture itself or any other kind of editing which associates the image with the uploader are not eligible.

For more information, visit Wiki Loves Africa.