RAW — Real And Wild — is a new kind of nature photography competition, one that begins at your front door.

Most competitions reward distance: the passport stamp, the remote expedition, the species found only after three flights and a chartered boat. Beautiful work can come from those journeys, but they represent only a sliver of the wild — and an increasingly inaccessible one.

RAW is built on a different premise: the wild is not far away.
It’s the heron hunting in a parking‑lot drain, the fox weaving through back gardens at 2 a.m., the moth tapping at a window, the lichen on a cemetery wall, the moment a child meets a wild eye for the first time. These encounters are not lesser. They are often more honest.

RAW celebrates the photographer who pays attention—who looks closely at where they already are and reveals the real, living world threaded through everyday life.
“The real wild is everywhere. You just have to stop driving past it.”

In our inaugural year, 2026, we are building more than a competition. We are creating an annual record of what the wild looks like here, now, as seen by the people who live closest to it. A collective portrait of the nature that surrounds us, sustains us, and too often goes unnoticed.

Environmental Integrity
Wildlife photography has long been tied to long‑distance travel—flights, expeditions, and the pursuit of rarity. While these journeys can produce extraordinary images, they also carry environmental cost.

RAW proposes a shift: meaningful photography does not require global travel.

By working within 100 km of home, photographers reduce their footprint while forming deeper, more responsible relationships with the landscapes and species they document. This creates a competition that is not only more equitable, but more sustainable.

This is not about restriction.
It is about relevance.

The ecosystems closest to us are often the ones most in need of attention, understanding, and protection. RAW encourages a movement from extraction to observation, from destination to connection, from spectacle to stewardship.