I spend a much happier fraction of my time sorting through the construction photos available to ENR from the Associated Press and from archives such as Getty for use with stories. Those photos, often taken by professionals, rarely equal and almost never exceed the quality of ENR's photo contest submissions.

For me, the photo contest submissions provide a visual tour of the multitude of projects, and the parts of projects and people working on them, that I will never get to see no matter how long I work on this magazine. Sometimes—and I’m serious—what is under construction is more beautiful to me than when it is finished. Sometimes the water treatment plant is more charming with its valves and veins not yet fully connected.

Since the contest began, I have wanted to take and submit a photo to the ENR contest. That’s never going to happen, because staff can't participate. But those of us who judge the contest are always amazed by the quality of photos taken, and not just by professional photographers. Submissions from those who work on jobsites or for firms involved in projects where photos are taken, often just on cell phones, can be spectacular. 

Learn more detail about the photo on this page and all of the 2024 photo contest winners at enr.com/articles/60228. The images come from across the global construction sector. There couldn’t be any better ones, in my opinion.

Now is the time to plan and prepare for this year's submissions—or snap that photo you’ve had an idea about. Entries are due next month for photos taken between October 1, 2024 and November 30, 2025. Submitters must have rights/permission to submit the photo from the photographer or rights holder. Please limit the photo size to no more than 16 MB and make sure it is in JPG, PNG or GIF format. Enter your photos at ENR.com/photocontest.

Every photo will be viewed by our judging panel—and not all will be printed and posted, there aren’t really any losers.