Why we ask you to stay close to home—and how to make sure your work qualifies.
The RAW Awards were founded to level the playing field. In traditional nature photography, "access" is often bought. High-budget expeditions to remote corners of the globe provide subjects that are inherently "spectacular" simply because they are rare.
The 100km Rule changes the game. It rewards observation over access. It challenges you to find the extraordinary in the familiar, and to prove that your photographic skill isn't dependent on a plane ticket.
A 100km radius covers an area of over 31,400 square kilometers. That is roughly the size of Belgium, or twice the size of the Serengeti National Park.
Within that space, there are thousands of species, varying micro-climates, and countless untold stories. Our mission is to see how much of that wildness you can capture.
For every image you submit, the location where the shutter was pressed must be within 100 kilometers (62 miles) of your primary residence at the time the photo was taken.
What defines "Home"?
Your primary residence is the place where you live the majority of the year. For students or those with seasonal residences, "home" is wherever you were officially based during the period the photograph was made.
How is it verified?
We trust our community, but we verify the winners. Shortlisted photographers will be asked to provide:
Does it have to be current?
No. You can enter archive work, provided that at the time the photo was taken, it was within 100km of where you lived at that time.
What about nomadic photographers?
If you live full-time in a van or boat and have no fixed address, your "home" is considered the location you were based in for the longest period during that specific season. Please contact us if you need a specific ruling.
Ethics and the Rule
The 100km rule is also a conservation tool. By encouraging local photography, we reduce the carbon footprint of the competition and encourage photographers to become stewards of their local patches. However, "local" does not mean "captive." Photos of pets, livestock, or animals in zoos/rehabilitation centers (even if within 100km) are not eligible for the main categories.