CGAP Microfinance Photography Contest Winners Announced

WASHINGTON, June 14, 2011 -

First prize in the 2010 CGAP Microfinance Photography Contest
goes to Mohammed Rakibul Hasan for “The Tannery Industry.” Hasan
took the photograph, in which hundreds of hides turn golden in the
sun, in his hometown of Dhaka, Bangladesh, where there are many
small tanneries. This is the third time Hasan has been a finalist
in the Contest, but the first time he has won the top prize. Hasan
works as a freelance photographer while he studies for a post
graduate diploma in photojournalism at Adeneo de Manila University
in the Philippines.

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Hasan’s entry won out over nearly 2,000 entries from
professional and nonprofessional photographers around the world in
the 2010 CGAP Microfinance Photography Contest [ href="www.cgap.org/p/site/c/template.rc/1.26.16410/">www.cgap.org/p/site/c/template.rc/1.26.16410/].

South Asian photographers dominated the top three places, but
the other 20 winners come from all regions of the world. And for
the first time this year, photographs from China featured strongly
among the winners.

Second Place winner “Jute Monster,” by Jashim Salam, shows an
unusual perspective of the reviving jute industry in Bangladesh.
Salam is studying for a diploma in photojournalism at the South
Asian Institute of Photography in Bangladesh, and this is the first
time he has entered the Contest.

The judges commended four photographs for Special Mention, all
of which resonated for their narrative and mood, as well as
technical composition. “Rickshaw Puller,” by Joy Mukherjee from
West Bengal, shows microcredit client Ibrahim helping people cross
the Matla River at low tide. “Food Workshop,” by Chinese
photographer Tian An, captures the light and heat pouring through
as the owner of a small food store griddles Chinese pancakes.

Sudipto Das’ photograph of a grandfather telling tales to his
grandchildren in West Bengal was commended by the judges for
catching a unique moment.

Huaxin Hu also warranted Special Mention for “Selling Geese,” an
amusing portrait of a farmer and his son carrying geese to market
in Zhejiang province in China.  

“Whether it’s the milk seller in Pakistan who nervously awaits
the results of tests on a sample of milk she’s selling, the tofu
vendor who’s set up a makeshift shop at a building site in China,
or the fish trader in Muscat, Oman, handing over a whopping tuna to
the butcher, these photographs are startling portrayals of people’s
ingenuity,” said Jeanette Thomas, CGAP’s Head of Communications.
“From Madagascar to Madhya Pradesh, from a candlemaker in the
Philippines, to the clothes seller on the streets of Breslau,
Poland, these images show the entrepreneurial spirit and energy of
human enterprise the world over.”

A slideshow [ href="www.cgap.org/p/site/c/media/?play=1.9.50503">www.cgap.org/p/site/c/media/?play=1.9.50503]
of the winning photographs and details of the winners appear at href="www.cgap.org/">www.cgap.org.

The 2011 CGAP Microfinance Photography Contest will open for
entries 15 June 2011.

Jeanette Thomas, +1-202-744-4829, jthomas1 at worldbank.org