There has been a lot of attention on the topic of climate and weather in recent times. The growing call for climate action, Greta Thunberg, raging wildfires, drought in South-Africa, heat waves in Northern Africa, landslides and earthquakes etc. It is only most befitting that the 9th edition of the Wiki Loves Africa contest was dedicated to collecting images that depict climate, weather and its effects in, on and around the African continent.
Expected image categories included: natural elements, intense weather phenomena, farming techniques, instruments for measuring weather conditions across varying climate conditions, shelter choices, campaigns, gatherings, outdoor themed events and generally activities that fall within or around the topic of climate and weather.
Congratulations to all the winners! The general public is invited to meet the winners and learn the motivations behind each submission in this WikiAfrica Hour episode. Also check out the quality images and the top 20 shortlisted images in the video below:
This year’s contest, as usual, brought together many contributors from African communities with new communities like the Wiki Fan Club Cote d’Ivoire emerging. We also saw interesting community activity from countries of Madagascar, Madeira and Niger. The contest closed with an impressive 13,386 photo submissions excluding 221 videos and 28 audios. Many of these amazing photos have already been collected into the Best images category here.
Also notable in this edition of the contest, was the introduction of a video jury (first of its kind in the Wikimedia/Wiki loves X space) to help with selecting winning submissions in 2 separate video categories – Best Video and Africa Environment prize categories. All entries were judged by an expert jury of 16 professional photographers, filmmakers, commonists and Wikimedians from all over the world.
The International prizes are:
Photography:
1st prize: US$2000 – Auyo village flood by Sani Maikatanga (Nigeria) by (User:SMMIMAGES) Wikimedia Commons, CC-BY-SA 4.0.
“This striking photograph captures the stark reality of communities engulfed by floodwaters. The vibrant colours and clarity heighten the emotional intensity and visual impact of the image.”
Michael Maggs, WLA ‘23 photo juror
2nd prize: US$1500 – Stormy day in Somalia by Mohamed Nageeb (Somalia) by (User:Negonasr) Wikimedia Commons, CC-BY-SA 4.0.
“For me, this image captures so much about climate change, there is a sense of an apocalyptic wasteland captured here and a story of the human cost of environmental degradation. The struggle for resources driving war, displacing people, refugee camps, the loss of homeland for indigenous peoples and loss of habitat for fauna and flora. Visually, the muted colours convey the same desolate feeling as dust bowl farmland images in the great depression, yet it is so skillfully and beautifully lit. The composition of the mother staring into the distance while the child stares directly into the camera holding a panga as if his fate has been sealed is emotionally rending. This image tells a global, local and personal heartbreaking story.”
Rachel Zadok, WLA ‘23 photo juror
3rd prize: US$1000 – Kids and the river by Mohammed Osman (Sudan) by (User:MOHAMEDOSMAN27) Wikimedia Commons, CC-BY-SA 4.0.
“A wonderful natural scene in terms of composition, lighting and colours. On the other hand, we find these boys standing looking at their future and the negative effects that await them as a result of evaporation and the drying up of rivers as a result of climate changes.”
Summer Kamal, WLA ‘23 photo juror
Media (Video and Audio):
Best audio : US$ 750
“Simply wow!.. .I could see it all. You took me on a journey around Africa – the calm, highs, lows, joy and pain, I felt it all.”
Green Wilfred Somoni,WLA 2023 winner
Best video prize : US$ 1,000
“I built a story around the theme for Wiki Loves Africa 2023, Climate and Weather, to illustrate how climate change affects people and their personal relationships, especially those living below the poverty line.”
Wilfred Somoni, Winner WLA ‘23 video prize
Africa Environment Video Prize: Best video representation of the impact of climate change : US$ 2,000
“A video that stands out. Very well filmed, beautiful image quality, well-calibrated that tells a story. The emotional component is very important and very present throughout the video.”
Fayçal Rezkallah, WLA ‘23 Video juror
Africa Environment Special Collection Prize: Best collections of images showing the impact of climate change : US$ 500
“We submitted those videos as a local organiser of Wiki Loves Africa 2023 in Cote d’Ivoire. When organising the event, I had in mind to submit the very best videos that could speak of this year’s theme.”
Aboubacar Kamate, Founder WLA Côte d’Ivoire fan club
Finally, this year, the international organising team of Wiki Loves Africa also wishes to recognize the WLA organising community of Senegal as the most outstanding local organiser of the contest year 2023. This recognition is in lieu of the organiser’s efforts in ensuring that all due processes in the course of organising the contest in their local community – including jury announcements, prize awards, local events, grants report writing, etc were followed and all necessary documentations correctly done on the local contest pages.
Visit Wikimedia Commonss to see a list of winning photos from several local contests.
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