Commons:Wiki Loves Monuments 2025 in the United States/Jury

Wiki Loves Monuments - United States Competition
A campaign to improve our coverage of U.S. historic and cultural sites
throughout the month of October.

Judging for Wiki Loves Monuments 2025 in the United States takes place throughout the duration of November. Photos will be judged based on the following criteria:

Composition
Technical quality
Originality
Encyclopedic value (see Commons project scope)

Judging is split into several rounds, as described below. Judges will make use of the Montage judging tool. Please note that the process and logistics of the judging process may change at any time.

Jury

Judge	Bio
Alex Stinson (User:Sadads)	Alex Stinson is a Wikimedia organizer and contributor since 2025. As an admin on Commons, he really enjoys identifying and highlighting the highest quality content on the wiki.
Ayokanmi Oyeyemi (User:Kaizenify)	Ayokanmi Oyeyemi is a Wikimedia volunteer, photographer, and open knowledge advocate from Nigeria. He serves as the Program Director of Wikimedia User Group Nigeria. He has uploaded thousands of photographic uploads documenting Nigeria’s people, landscapes, architecture, and cultural heritage, and has also served as an organizer and lead juror for Wikimedia photography campaigns in Nigeria and Africa, including Wiki Loves Africa, Wiki Loves Earth, Wiki Loves Folklore and the Wiki Re-Imagine Lagos.
User:Sciking	Sciking is one of the sysops of Lombard Wikipedia and an active member of the Wikimedia community in Italy. He started working in WLM in 2024 and got a passion for it.
User:Kwameghana(Bright Kwame Ayisi)	Kwameghana is a professional photographer based in Accra, Ghana with 12 years Wikimedia experience and organiser of various photo campaigns in Ghana. He is also an adviser to the Commons Photographers User group.
Dana Thompson	Dana S. Thompson is a Research and Instruction Librarian and Assistant Dean of Murray State University Libraries, Kentucky. She is the President of the International Visual Literacy Association (IVLA), with a focus on visual literacy, graphic communication, and the understanding of digital images.
Dappa Solomon (User:Dappasolomon001)	Dappa Solomon is an award winning documentary photographer from Nigeria with over a decade of experience in photography and he is a cultural heritage advocate.
Giovanni Pennisi (User:GiovanniPen)	Giovanni is the regional coordinator of Sicily for Wikimedia Italy, and an electronic and computer science engineering student.
Isla Haddow-Flood	Isla was born in Zimbabwe and is based in South Africa. She is the co-creator and manager of Wiki Loves Africa, Africa largest photographic and media contest [citation needed], a role she continues as the co-Executive Director of Wiki In Africa. Her creative knowledge stems from a fine arts degree, years as the creative director of an advertising agency, and as a freelance writer, and marketing and communications focused on the creative industries, including photography, film, and visual and performing arts.
Laliv Gal (User:Laliv g)	Laliv Gal is a Wikipedian, digital manager, content editor, and community manager. The perfect blend of a street-cat who knows how to get by and a house-cat who loves to pamper herself (p.s. allergic to cats). She is a former member of the board of directors of Wikimedia Israel Foundation.
User:Hitrandil	Hitrandil is an active participant in events in Italy. He has participated in several ItWikiCons as a volunteer. Hitrandil has been a member of the WLM Italy jury for several years, as well as regional WLM juries.
Nikolai Bulykin (User:Красный)	Nikolai is an architecture phohographer focusing mostly on Commons, active participant of the Commons quality assessment projects, and photography teacher.
Pedro J Pacheco (User:Pedro J Pacheco)	Pedro is a Wikimedian based in Spain. He is a member of WikiPortraits and Wikimedia España Chapter, and winner of Wiki Loves Monuments in France, Spain and Portugal.
Rosie Stephenson-Goodknight (User:Rosiestep)	Rosie is an English Wikipedia editor and admin, joined WikiPortraits in 2025.
Vegard Hanssen	Vegard Hanssen is an award-winning Norwegian photographer with a passion for capturing moments that evoke memories and offer new perspectives. He has received numerous national and international honors – including Norwegian Champion in Photography 2024 – and is known for his curious eye for both nature’s details and life’s small wonders.
Zack McCune (User:Zacharymccune)	Zack McCune is an internationally-celebrated filmmaker and graphic designer. He works as Director of Brand at the Wikimedia Foundation.
User:zblace	Z. Blace is media artist, curator and educator with over 25 years experience in European digital arts and critical media work, advocate for open/free content/software and participatory methods. Z. was curating first digital art exhibition at CalIT2 gallery in UCSD on video streaming and observation practices back in 2006, since then mostly focusing on communal work, queer and sustainability topics including organizing Queering Wikipedia 2023 conference.
User:Tduk	Commons photographer and other things

Main contest rounds

Pre-Jury (November 1-5)

The pre-jury round takes place with the organizers, who filter submissions based on the following criteria:

The subject of the photograph is not an eligible monument for the US contest.
- This includes photos of entities like signs and animals, that do not showcase the monument itself.
The image is a low resolution (below 3.5 megapixels); images that don't make the resolution cutoff will still be reviewed, and exceptional submissions will be kept.
The subject of the photograph is of a very popular monument that is already extremely well-covered on Commons (e.g., Washington Monument, Golden Gate Bridge), and the composition and quality of the photograph is similar to what is already available (i.e., it shows it from the same angle, or from the same time of day or season).

The purpose of the pre-jury round is to remove ineligible and redundant photos, making the subsequent jury stages more engaging and efficient.

Round 1 (November 6-15)

All photos deemed eligible following the pre-judging process are included in the pool for Round 1. Round 1 judges each review a sub-set of these photos, and vote Accept/Decline regarding whether or not the photo should qualify for Round 2.

Accept

The photo is of high technical and artistic quality with regard to exposure, focus, depth of field, color, lighting, and composition. Review the image guidelines for photo components to look for.
The photo illustrates its subject in an informative manner, that serves to impart knowledge about it.
Image editing/digital manipulation of the image is limited, well done, and not intended to deceive the viewer. Editing should be limited to cropping, perspective correction, sharpening/blurring, and color/exposure correction.

Decline

The photo does not satisfy the conditions listed under Accept above.

Round 2 (November 15-21)

Judges review the qualifying photos from Round 1 and rank them on a 1-5 star scale. Judges should base their rating on their assessment of the photo's photographic quality and encyclopedic value.

For photographic quality, judges are asked to consider the technical and artistic quality of the image. Judges are asked to review the quality image guidelines before starting the judging process and to keep these guidelines in mind when rating. For each image, judges should consider the extent to which it meets the quality image guidelines (good exposure, color, focus, etc.). Judges are encouraged to look through examples of featured pictures.

For encyclopedic value, judges are asked to go deeper into consideration of the photos' value as a representation of the depicted historical site. Judges should consider the extent to which the image serves as an illustrative aid that transmits knowledge as much as it sparks the imagination (or however you interpret the "wow factor"). The photo should provide an understanding of the monument/structure, its history, and/or the social environment it is situated in.

When appropriate, judges are also encouraged to explore the coverage on Wikimedia Commons or Wikipedia for the particular monument depicted in the photo, in order to gauge how "well known" or "well-covered" that monument is. (However, this is not a requirement for this round, and common sense should be sufficient regarding the evaluation of how "well-known" the monument is).

1 - 5 Star Rating | Guidelines:

1 star:

Lacks sufficient photographic quality and encyclopedic value to advance to Round 3.

2 stars:

Adequate photographic quality, and encyclopedic value, but lacks noteworthiness in some way (for example, its subject is already very well documented on Wikipedia, or the photograph is not particularly striking).

3 stars:

High quality, thoughtfully captured photo that aids understanding of its subject.

4 stars:

High quality, artistically captured photo that aids understanding of its subject, where its subject is less commonly known (or well-known, but shown in a unique way).

5 stars:

High quality, artistically captured photo that aids understanding of its subject, where its subject is less commonly-known (or well-known, but shown in a unique way), AND there is something indescribable beyond "wow" in the image that is thrilling and inspiring in a way that makes one want to go learn more about it.

Round 3 (November 22 - November 30)

In the final round, judges review the top qualifying photos (up to 50) from Round 2 and rank them. The top-10 winning photos are those that receive the highest average ranking among the Round 3 judges.

For this final round, judges should make their assessment in two parts:

Photographic/Artistic Qualities:

Evaluate each photo's artistic and photographic qualities such as exposure, focus, depth of field, color, lighting, composition, showing unique details, and the overall "wow" factor. Judges are asked to review the quality image guidelines before starting the judging process and to keep these guidelines in mind when rating.

For each photograph, ask yourself: Does the photo show a unique or informative detail of the monument, or evoke the experiential qualities of being in its presence? Is it captivating in a manner that inspires me to want to learn more about the monument and its history, and share that knowledge with others? Does it have exceptional aesthetic qualities including exposure, focus, depth of field, color, lighting, and composition?

Encyclopedic Value:

Judges should think deeply about the photos' encyclopedic value, as a representation of the depicted historical site. Judges should consider the extent to which the image serves as an illustrative aid that transmits knowledge as much as it sparks the imagination. The photo should provide an understanding of the monument/structure, its history, and/or the social environment it is situated in. Judges should also consider our existing coverage of the monument on Commons and Wikipedia, and whether the photo provides a unique or otherwise highly valued perspective. If there is a Wikipedia article for this monument, would this photograph be well-suited to illustrate it?

Rank the photos according to how affirmatively you agree with the criteria and questions above. In other words, the photos that you place first in the visual ranking grid should be those for which you answer "yes" most emphatically for the given criteria, and those you place at the end should be those for which the answer is more in the direction of "no".

An example of this criteria being applied: a stunning photo of a very famous monument that already has many photos on Commons should rank lower than a similarly stunning photo of a monument that has few, or no, other photos on Commons. However, a stunning photo of an already well-covered monument could certainly rank higher if it has some exceptional artistic or encyclopedic quality (such as showing it from a unique angle or event, or showing a detail that makes it especially informative or useful for a Wikipedia article).

Special contests

For 2025, we have several "special" prize categories:

Most sites photographed that were previously unillustrated
Top two photos of Native American sites
Top two UAV (drone) photos

Details for the judging process are pending, depending on how many submissions we get for each category.

Prizes and sendoff

For our main contest, the top ten winners will be notified via talk page message and e-mail.

The United States' top ten photos will also be submitted to the international Wiki Loves Monuments jury. The international jury will determine the winners of the international competition and award their prizes. More information on the international jury can be found here.

The special contest winners will also be contacted and receive national prizes, but will not be sent to the international jury.