The Signpost

Featured content

Talking architecture with MrPanyGoff

This report covers content promoted from 29 January to 4 February 2012.
The interior of the Hagia Sophia Church in Sofia, Bulgaria. The image's creator, MrPanyGoff, describes to the Signpost what it is like to take featured photographs of Bulgarian buildings.

This week, the Signpost continues its coverage of editors combating systemic bias by contributing featured content on underrepresented geographical areas. We interview MrPanyGoff, who has contributed eight of twelve featured pictures listed at WikiProject Bulgaria. His main focus is on pictures of buildings (MrPanyGoff's featured picture of the nave of the Hagia Sophia Church in Sofia is displayed above). MrPanyGoff is also an occasional contributor to the Did you know? section of the main page.

"Every village also has structures that should be photographed to complete the collection of knowledge and ideas about the world. So people, give us good photos not only of Manhattan or Paris but also of the Bronx and the small town of Kamnik, Slovenia."

On taking pictures and nominating them as featured picture candidates.

"First of all, you should have an intuition of encyclopedic value. Not every building has it, but at the same time not only cathedrals or palaces are symbols of some particular place. Every village also has structures that should be photographed to complete the collection of knowledge and ideas about the world. One advantage of Wikipedia is the lack of technical and economic constraints. So people, give us good photos not only of Manhattan or Paris but also of the Bronx and the small town of Kamnik, Slovenia.

Of course, there are some technical matters which you should take into consideration. Choosing the time of the day, considering the course of the sun and the crowd, are probably the most important things."

On his interest in photography and architecture:

"I think that if someone knows the language of some of the arts, he understands all the arts. It is one and the same language. A few years ago, I was mostly into the area of art photography. Some of my works were chosen for three or four public exhibitions and then I went back to one of my first passion—encyclopedias. I started writing my first own encyclopedia when I was about 10 years old. So, I would like to take photos of every place in the world as well as to write about these places. At the same time, I've never left the field of the architecture."

On writing about Bulgaria.

"There are almost no sources. It is very difficult. It took me so much time and effort just to find out who is the architect of such a great symbol of Sofia as the building of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Actually, I prefer ten "C"-level articles covering the main aspects of the topic than one featured article. Of course, once we cover all the topics with C-level articles then we should going to develop them into a featured ones."

Featured articles

Six featured articles were promoted this week:

The gun trials of the Brazilian dreadnought Minas Geraes, forming what was at that time the heaviest broadside ever fired. From the new featured article South American dreadnought race.
A woman in her late fifties. She wears a blue sleeveless top and is holding a microphone and smiling.
In 1976, African American Natalie Cole won the award for her song "Sophisticated Lady (She's a Different Lady)", only the second artist to win the award back then. From the new featured list Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.
A man wearing a white leather top with writing on it. His arms are crossed and there is a man standing in front to his left.
Italian Giacomo Agostini won 15 motorcycle world championships, from the new featured list of Grand Prix motorcycle racing World champions.
The Treskilling Yellow, a postage stamp with the Coat of Arms of Sweden on it
This new featured picture of the Treskilling Yellow shows the only known remaining version of the Swedish stamp. It sold for US$ 2,060,000 in 1996.
A new featured picture, showing a pair of Northern Carmine Bee-eaters

Featured lists

Seven featured lists were promoted this week:

Featured pictures

Ten featured pictures were promoted this week:

A new featured diagram coronary circulation of the human heart, showing arteries, veins, and muscle walls. Blue components indicate de-oxygenated blood pathways and red components indicate oxygenated blood pathways.