Fotoshi: Explore, Capture, Map

The world changes every day, and maps fall behind. Fotoshi makes it fun and easy to keep them fresh with one good photo.

We are a community for photography and exploration, made for people who care about a sense of place. Every photo is anchored to a place or feature on the map, so together we can build maps that show what we care about: your favourite climbing gym, that special hiking trail, the dog park down the road and the step-free entrance at your local library. We built Fotoshi to enable anyone to create the maps they care about. We’re excited to see the world through your eyes.

HOW IT WORKS

• Explore: Notice the world around you and photograph the features you care about or browse Fotoshi to find places and objects on the map that still need a photo

• Capture: Photograph the place or detail with the Fotoshi camera

• Map: Select the feature your photo represents or add a new one to the map if it doesn't exist already

• Understand: Your photo becomes available for OpenStreetMap, Wikimedia, Overture Maps, and many other services, helping us to build better maps and understand the physical world in the process.

ANCHORED TO THE MAP

Your photos are linked to the map feature they represent at the moment of capture. This helps Fotoshi describe the world more accurately than apps that rely solely on GPS or limited maps.

FOTOSHI IS FOR YOU IF YOU:

• Take photos of places and landscapes when you travel or explore.

• Conduct field surveys where photos anchored to the map are important.

• Care about public infrastructure and improving it for pedestrians, cyclists, wheelchair users and others.

• Would like to see detailed features appear on the map such as outdoor fitness stations, drinking fountains, picnic tables, shared BBQs, public toilets etc.

• Want to understand and document how an area changes over time.

• Have a business that you'd like to see represented on more maps.

MAP WHAT YOU CARE ABOUT

Shopfronts and landmarks, and also the places rarely surveyed: drinking fountains, public toilets, nursing rooms, bicycle parking, shaded bus stops, public bookcases and public art. If something in the physical world matters to you, it belongs on the map. One of the things that excites us most is seeing what you care about and would like represented on the map.

BUILT ON OPEN MAPS

Places come from OpenStreetMap and Overture, so your photos attach to open map data that anyone can use. Photos are published under CC BY 4.0 and credited to you.

YOUR LOCATION

Fotoshi uses your device location only while you use the app. It shows where you are on the map, finds places near you and records where you took each photo, so the photo links to the right place. Fotoshi does not use your location in the background.

FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS AND MAPPERS

Some apps are easy to use. Others create useful map data. Fotoshi is built to do both. You don't need to know anything about mapping to start, and every photo you take is useful from day one.

If you love photography, maps and exploration, Fotoshi is the home for you. Join the expedition.