This two-week exhibition, held at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) in February, and delivered in partnership with PhotoVoice, presented a powerful collection of photographs and personal narratives created by community members from China, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nepal, Peru, and Tunisia. Supported by PhotoVoice, participants used photography and storytelling to share their own perspectives on what is working in their communities and why, placing lived experience at the centre of conversations around development.

The exhibition explored a wide range of themes identified by local communities themselves, including education, maternal health, political voice, urban poverty, women’s empowerment, water management, and renewable energy. Rather than presenting development as a problem to be fixed from the outside, the work highlighted local knowledge, resilience, and agency, offering a more balanced and honest view of progress shaped from within.

Alongside the exhibition, Overseas Development Institute hosted a special evening event on 26 February at the Royal Geographical Society. The event brought together practitioners, researchers, artists, and the public for an open and lively discussion on how narratives and images of development are shifting. With unprecedented access to digital tools and platforms, people at the grassroots are increasingly able to tell their own stories directly to a global audience, challenging long-held assumptions about who speaks, who is seen, and who is heard.

The discussion examined how this shift affects perceptions of development and what it means for traditional storytellers such as journalists, photographers, filmmakers, and charities. The evening featured a keynote speaker and an expert panel debate, followed by informal conversation over complimentary drinks and a world food buffet. Attendees were also invited to explore the exhibition in the space, allowing dialogue and visual storytelling to exist side by side.

The full exhibition content remains available to view online, extending its reach beyond the gallery walls and continuing the conversation around participation, representation, and the power of communities telling their own stories.