Wikimedia CEE Hub/Microgrants/report/Route created: Streets of Istanbul
- By: Adem
We are pleased to organize another photo walk, whose importance is increasing day by day. Considering one of the thematic approaches in photography, we photographed some of the street signs in Istanbul dedicated to notable people on Wikipedia and uploaded these files to Wikimedia Commons.
July 6, Saturday
- 12:00 -13:00: Sharing routes and coffee with community members
- 13:10 - 18:00: Eight people in groups of two, photographed the signs on four designated routes in the Kadıköy district.
- 18:00 - 19:00: Post-Photowalk situation assessment and sharing of experiences.
- 19:00 - 19:30: Coffee Break
- 19:30 - 20:30: Dinner with the participants
July 7, Sunday
- 11:30 - 14:00 Huluxi, Adem and Caner photographed some of the limited signs in the Fatih and Bakırköy districts.
- 14:00 - 15:00 Coffee Break
End of the July
- Photos uploaded to Wikimedia Commons
- Program
Before the Photowalk, we researched the districts in Istanbul where the street names attributed to notable people were most concentrated. We contacted Open Street Map expert and mapping engineer Orkut Murat Yılmaz to determine the routes. We decided that two districts (Kadıköy and Fatih) with the highest number of street signs and the ones closest to each other. On the first day, we met with the participants at a café in Kadıköy and decided which routes eight people could follow using four maps printed on A3 paper. We told them what to pay attention to when shooting street signs and from what angles they should be shot. On the maps, we talked about which streets to visit and which locations to start and where to end. Both digital and mobile phones were used during the photo walk.
Then, after a short coffee break, we started taking photos in groups of four on the routes we had determined. We used Metro, motorbike, taxi and bus to get to the relevant places. The shootings in Fenerbahçe, Caddebostan, Erenköy and Moda neighborhoods were completed and they met again at the same point. After the coffee break, we were happy to capture most of the streets we had determined as a result of our targets. We went to Happy Moon's restaurant near Süreyya Opera House for dinner. On Sunday, some of the targeted streets in the Fatih district on the European side were photographed by Huluxi. Caner and me took photos of the street signs we came across on our route in the Beşiktaş and Bakırköy districts in a way that was in line with the theme. After that, we completed the photography phase of the event by drinking coffee together. In July, we uploaded the photos to Wikimedia Commons.
- Main Outcomes
The main output of taking photographs of elements such as street signs in Istanbul for Wikimedia Commons will be freely licensed images that can be used in various Wikimedia projects, including Wikipedia and other educational platforms. The goal is to contribute open-access media for public use, particularly for articles and resources related to Istanbul’s geography, culture, and infrastructure.
These images provide visual references for locations in Istanbul, supporting articles on neighborhoods, streets, and urban planning. Also, photographers who upload such images have helped create a global repository of information with freely available media.
Main outputs can be depicted in the related files on the Commons
- 9 participants, including the 2 organizers
- Total 162 photos were uploaded (157 street signs and others)
- Photos of street signs used more than 20 articles.
| Additional part of the report (Lessons learned) |
|---|
We experienced some challenges before and during the Photowalk. We talked about some changes and innovations that we could make to encourage more participants to participate in such events than we targeted.We thought that a different form of announcement with logos and designs, more effective use of social media, and giving a prize to the participants who takes the most photos would be more effective. The difficulty of photomarathon-style events in the summer months can be directly related to the weather. For this reason, we observed that there may be events with similar themes in either the spring or fall months. Teaching the participants technical details in photography such as daylight, perspective, shadow and contrast etc. in advance also showed us that we could get higher quality outputs. In general, everything went well, with the planned activities being successfully executed.More editors, higher quality and more outcomes photos were determined as a target for another project. |
- Financial report
| Type of expense | Description | Amount (EUR) |
|---|---|---|
| Food and beverages | Two lunch, one dinner and a snack for the organizing team and participants during the photowalks | 250 |
| Transport | Urban transportation expenses (Bus, metro, taxi) | 165 |
| Promotional products and design | A3 maps and logo design | 50 |
| TOTAL | 465.00 |
- Achieved metrics
Main results in the following table:
| Metric | Target | Result | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 11 | 9 | We had total 9 participants, 3 of those were new. Additionally, during the event were present two organisers. |
| Wikimedia Commons images | 80-90 | 157 |