WASHINGTON, Nov. 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The winner of the 2013 CGAP Photo Contest is Truong Minh Dien of Vietnam. A panel of four judges blindly selected his photo, "Rainy Afternoon," out of a record number of 3,890 entries from professional and amateur photographers in 91 countries. The winning photo depicts a woman transporting potatoes to a local market in Vietnam during a downpour. The woman's earnings help feed her husband and two children.
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The judging panel appreciated "Rainy Afternoon" for the way it thoughtfully depicted the resilience of low-income entrepreneurs in Vietnam. "The photo really captured a great moment," said Mohammad Rakibul Hasan, the 2010 CGAP Photo Contest Winner and guest judge for 2013.
In addition to the compelling story behind the winning image, the judges felt that it was technically excellent. "It takes a disciplined photographer to step back and take a picture like this," said Stelios Varias, a senior photographer and editor from Thomson Reuters and one of the four judges. "It's incredibly hard to get a good shot in the rain."
A full gallery of the 30 winning photos is available here. The 2013 Grand Prize is a $2,000 gift certificate for photography equipment.
The judges also selected 28 other photos from around the world as regional winners, finalists, and special mentions, which were chosen for both technical excellence and depiction of the stories and faces behind financial inclusion. Of particular note was the South Asia regional winner, "Brick Worker," submitted by Moksumul Haque of Bangladesh. The photo captures bricks tossed in mid-air, leaving the viewer wondering what happened immediately after the picture was taken.
For the second consecutive year, a popular vote on CGAP.org determined a People's Choice winner. Voters chose "Talented Nesma," submitted by Mohamad Gouda of Egypt, which depicts a woman who leveraged a microfinance loan to build a painting and embroidery business. The photo received 1,236 votes, nearly 400 more than the next most popular photo.
Photographers from over 90 countries made this the most competitive year for the CGAP Photo Contest, which just finished its eighth consecutive competition. The 2013 panel of judges consisted of Suzanne Lemakis, Director of the Department of Fine Art at Citigroup, Mohammad Rakibul Hasan, the 2010 CGAP Photo Contest winner and professional photographer from Bangladesh, Stelios Varias of Reuters, and Indira Williams, the senior manager of visual resources at the Newseum. At the conclusion of the judging session, held on 1 November 2013, Williams noted, "This was an incredible collection of photos and I was impressed by the quality of them." "The quality of the pictures was really outstanding this year," added Lemakis.
The annual CGAP Photo Contest aims to highlight stand-out professional and amateur photographers depicting financial inclusion around the world. Through strong photography, CGAP showcases the different ways in which poor households manage their financial lives and how financial inclusion can make the lives of people at the base of the economic pyramid better. "Photos of society and social inequality can help eliminate poverty by creating social awareness," said Mohammad Rakibul Hassan.
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Erin Scronce