Treat people well
- Be respectful. Listen to people whose backgrounds differ from yours and try to understand them.
- Assume good faith.
- Respect how people name and describe themselves.
- Be welcoming and respect people's boundaries and preferences.
- Support each other. Help newer photographers, share what you know, and give credit for good work.
Never acceptable
- Harassment of any kind. This includes bullying, insults, slurs, threats, unwelcome sexual attention, hounding, and trolling.
- Sharing someone's private information without their consent.
- Using a role or position, in WikiPortraits or anywhere else in the Wikimedia movement, to pressure or intimidate people.
- Adding false, misleading, or hateful content to Wikimedia projects.
At events
- Follow the guidance and instructions of event staff at all times.
- You represent WikiPortraits and the broader Wikimedia movement. Please conduct yourself courteously, kindly, and graciously!
- Respect the people you photograph. If someone asks not to be photographed, honor it. Take extra care with children and with private moments.
- WikiPortraits is not the only group of Wikimedians covering events. Be thoughtful about discussing and coordinating coverage with local Wikimedians when relevant. This can mean contacting a local Wikimedia affiliate, or another Wikimedia photographer who has already been covering the event.
Commitments, and taking care of yourself
- Most WikiPortraits work is volunteer, and it should be an enjoyable time for all photographers.
- Stick to the commitments you make. If you can no longer cover an event, withdraw from the event page as early as you can so we can find a replacement.
- If at any point you feel overwhelmed, please take a break and take care of yourself!
Photos and editing
- Wikimedia Commons does not follow traditional photojournalism rules, so photo retouching is allowed.
- Tasteful edits like color grading, cropping, de-noising, and sharpening need no disclosure, as long as they do not fundamentally alter the content of the image.
- Edits that add or remove content from the image should disclosed with the "Retouched picture" template on Commons (this is not a Commons rule, but an expectation for WikiPortraits coverage).
- If covering an event as credentialed media and the venue or a subject asks you not to publish a photo, don't.
If something goes wrong
If you see or experience behavior that breaks these rules, tell us at [email protected]. We take every report seriously and keep it as confidential as we can.