Winners from the 2011 CGAP Microfinance Photography Contest

WASHINGTON, January 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

The winner of this year's CGAP Microfinance Photography Contest is Ngo Quang Phuc of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120110/DC32892-a)

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120110/DC32892-b)

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120110/DC32892-c)

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110412/MM81963LOGO)

Phuc, 55, has been working as a professional photographer in Vietnam for the last 15 years. His photo won out over more than 2000 entries from professional and non-professional photographers from over 70 countries around the world.  

The photo of workers drying salt was taken in Khanh Hoa, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam.

The judges also selected 28 other photos from around the world as finalists. The winning photos can be viewed in a slideshow here: http://www.cgap.org/p/site/c/media/?play=1.9.56213.

Second Prize winner was also from Vietnam. "Drying Fish" shows private enterprise workers from Huynh Khang in Kian Giang Province, Vietnam laying fish out to dry for export.

While East Asia dominated the top two places, finalists came from every region, and for the first time this year the judges selected regional winners. A photo of a coal seller from Peru was awarded the regional prize for Latin America. "The Duck Shepherd," an amusing portrait of a duck rearer herding his flock by boat by Mohammed Khalid Rayhan of Bangladesh won the South Asia award. China won the East Asia award. And "A Day at Cocoki," by Jonathan Kalan, won the Africa award. In the photo, the door is nudged open to peer in on Jeanne Ugirimbabazi, a member of a women's cooperative in Kigali, sewing a handbag that she will sell for income for her family. 

Photographers from over 70 countries made this the most competitive year so far in the Contest, now in its sixth year. The winners are a mix of professional photographers, and those for whom photography is a passionate hobby, such as Mohammad Moniruzzaman, a microbiologist from Bangladesh who belongs to the Bangladeshi Photographers Club. Moniruzzaman was a finalist with "Harvest Season," a beautifully balanced photograph taken in the southern part of Bangladesh before winter last year.

Click to see a slideshow of the winning photographs and for details of the winners. The 2012 CGAP Microfinance Photography Contest will open for entries in May 2012.

Email Jeanette Thomas for further inquiries about the CGAP Microfinance Photography Contest.

Full list of Winners of the 2011 CGAP Microfinance Photography Contest

First Place
Salty Taste of Life
Ngo Quang Phuc, Vietnam

Second Place
Drying Fish
Dien Truong Minh, Vietnam

Third Place
Together We Can
Joydeep Mukherjee, India

East Asia Regional Winner
Basket Making
Mei Zhenyang, China

Latin America Regional Winner
Coal Seller
Marco Simola, Peru

South Asia Regional Winner
The Duck Shepherd
Mohammed Khalid Rayhan, Bangladesh

Africa Regional Winner
A Day at Cocoki
Jonathan Kalan, Rwanda

Harvest Time
Ngo Quang Phuc, Vietnam

Fish Farming
Yinhua Liu, China

Pottery
Thanh Hai Nguyen, Vietnam

The Research Field
Probal Rashid, Bangladesh

Nothing to Hold on
GMB Akash, Bangladesh

Mango Market
M. Yousuf Tushar, Bangladesh

Floating Market
Thanh Hai Nguyen, Vietnam

To Thresh Paddy
Amit Mukherjee, India

Hats
Binh Ngo Thanh, Vietnam

Survivor
GMB Akash, Bangladesh

Winter Life
Zhang Quanli, China

Bird Rearing
Khandaker Nazmul Haque, Bangladesh

Customer Service
Marco Gualazzini, India

Fishing at Saint Martin's Island
M. Yousuf Tushar, Bangladesh

Haitian Gourdes in Hand
Darcy Kiefel, Haiti

Harvest Season
Mohammad Moniruzzaman, Bangladesh

Creation
Kaushik Majumder, India

Midnight Tailor
Mohd Nazri Sulaiman, Malaysia

Old Charka
Seshadri Moitra, India

Recycling
Abdul Aziz, Bangladesh

Light in Darkness
Egil Mongstad, Uganda

Going to Market
Dinh Manh Tai, Vietnam