Through Our Eyes: Resource Governance in Practice

We invite photographers, practitioners, journalists, community members and anyone engaged in resource governance to submit images for Through Our Eyes — a global, crowd-sourced photo initiative capturing how resource governance is experienced in real life.

About the competition

Resource governance is often discussed in policies and reports. Its true impact is lived every day — in communities, workplaces and landscapes around the world.

As NRGI marks its 20th anniversary, we are inviting people from across our global network and beyond to help tell this story through photography. Through Our Eyes will gather a curated collection of images showing what resource governance looks like on the ground: its challenges, its progress, and the people at its center.

A selection of images will form a permanent online anniversary gallery and be showcased at a flagship event in late 2026.

What we're looking for

Images that show resource governance in practice. This could include:

• Community perspectives on mining, oil or gas projects
• Environmental and social impacts of extraction
• Moments of accountability, participation or advocacy
• Everyday realities shaped by natural resource decisions
• People, places and stories behind policy and reform

Photos can be powerful, subtle, hopeful or challenging — what matters is that they reflect real experiences and authentic stories.

Who can participate

We welcome submissions from:

• NRGI partners, alumni and grantees
• Civil society organizations and practitioners
• Journalists and researchers
• Community members and advocates
• NRGI staff
• Anyone engaged in or observing resource governance

What selected photographers receive

• Credit in all uses, including NRGI's website, publications and social media
• Feature in an online anniversary gallery (15–25 images)
• Potential showcase at a flagship anniversary event in late 2026
• Dedicated spotlight on selected contributors across NRGI's platforms

How to submit

Submissions are open through the online form below.

Submission deadline: 16 August 2026

Submit your photo via this Google Form

Submission guidelines

• Format: JPEG or PNG
• Resolution: High resolution, minimum 2000px recommended
• Caption required: location, brief description of what is shown and why it matters, photographer name
• You must own the photo or have the right to share it
• Please do not submit images that are disrespectful of or appropriate cultural traditions without consent
• By submitting, you grant NRGI permission to use the image with credit for communications purposes

Selection process

A panel will review all submissions based on relevance to the theme, strength of storytelling, diversity of perspectives and locations, and visual quality. Approximately 20 images will be selected for the anniversary collection.

Key dates