This post was written by Michael Maggs, a volunteer organiser of Wiki Loves Monuments (and Wikimedia UK Chair)
September is your chance to take part in the annual photography competition to improve Wikipedia. The encyclopaedia is visited by 500 million people every month, and is seeking help from RPS members improve its photos.
Wiki Loves Monuments is aimed at improving coverage of the UK’s listed buildings and ancient monuments, and starts on Monday 1st September. The contest is supported by the Royal Photographic Society, English Heritage, and Wikimedia UK (the UK charity that supports Wikipedia and its sister projects).
We’ve got lots of pictures of Tower Bridge and Stonehenge, but there’s so much more of the country’s heritage to celebrate. There are tens of thousands of eligible sites, so check out the UK competition website and see what’s nearby. As well as prizes for the best image, we have a special prize this year for the best image of a listed building on one of the ‘At Risk’ registers.
It doesn’t matter when your photos are taken so long as they are uploaded during September 2014. If you took some stunning pictures back in April, or five years ago, you can still upload them.
In line with the charitable and educational aims of the contest, you’ll need to agree to release your entries under a free licence allowing them to be freely used by anyone for any purpose, including Wikipedia. You retain copyright, and can require anyone using your images to attribute them to you as photographer.
Help us show off your images of your local history!
The competition is open until Tuesday 30 September. You can see full details of how to enter here.