Wiki Loves Africa Photo Contest 2020

Of all of the millions of subjects you can read about on Wikipedia, subjects relating to Africa have the least coverage. This is because of a number of reasons, but mostly because many people do not know that they can donate their images, videos and audio. Wiki Loves Africa needs your help to show the richness, difference and beauty of Africa. 

Application Deadline: 31st March 2020

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: African countries

About the Award: The theme for the 2020 contest is… Africa on the Move or Transport.

The theme Africa on the Move! encourages the submission of visual representations of movement, migration or transportation, whether local or regional, by path, road, sea, or air, self-propelled, or by animal, natural or mechanical means. Submissions could also capture the historical or contemporary structures that have been created to facilitate movement or the transportation of people, goods, or animals.

Wiki Loves Africa is a photo competition to share the daily practices of people across the continent with each other and the rest of the world, via Wikipedia.

Wiki Loves Africa is a public annual photo 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 such universal, visually rich and culturally specific topics (for example, markets, rites of passage, festivals, public art, cuisine, natural history, urbanity, daily life, notable persons, etc).

Type: Contest

Eligibility: There are a few rules to respect for the images to be eligible.

• Rule 1: All photos must be taken by the person submitting them. They can be uploaded by you or uploaded during a registered mass upload session. Your image must have your name or nom de plume on the uploaded file.
• Rule 2: Entries will only be accepted if uploaded between the 15th February to 31st March 2020. You can enter media that was taken at any time, even historical 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.
• Rule 3: Images with watermarks or embedded signatures will not be eligible. All entries submitted to the contest will automatically be licenced under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 (CC-BY-SA 4.0) (or those in the public domain). Read more about the cc-by-sa license here.
• Rule 4: All eligible pictures will be categorised under Images from Wiki Loves Africa 2020, this will be automatically assigned during the upload process. (Feel free to add other relevant categories and descriptions to make the images more usable on the projects.)
• Rule 5: Participants must registered on WIkimedia Commons and be contactable. Please enable e-mail on Wikimedia Commons so we can contact you should your image be chosen for a prize.
• Rule 6: To be considered for the video prize, the file must be uploaded in the video format (.ogg, .ogv, or .webm) that is required for Wikimedia Commons. Please note audio and visual quality and storytelling will be taken into account for your file to be eligible for a prize.

Selection 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.

Value of Contest: 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 last year, there will be two additional prize categories for photos and media.
The international prizes are:

• 1st prize: US$1000
• 2nd prize: US$800
• 3rd prize: US$500

Additional categories are:

• Culturally specific or traditional representations of transport or structures that facilitate transportation : US$500
• Prize for best quality video (audio and visual quality and storytelling will be taken into account): $500

Each winner will also receive a pack of goodies (proposed: a hat “I edit Wikipedia from Africa”, a branded battery, stickers)

How to Apply: ENTER YOUR IMAGES HERE.

Visit Contest Webpage for details