Truong Minh Dien of Vietnam has won the 2013 CGAP Photo Contest for his photo titled Rainy Afternoon.

The contest highlighted financial inclusion of the poor around the world and was organised by a World Bank affiliate.

Rainy Afternoon shows a woman carrying potatoes to a local market in Vietnam in pouring rain. Her earnings help feed her husband and two children.

A panel of four judges selected Dien's photo out of a record number of 3,890 entries from professional and amateur photographers, for the way it thoughtfully depicted the resilience of low-income entrepreneurs in Vietnam.

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."

Through the photographs, CGAP showcases 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 Hasan, the 2010 CGAP Photo Contest Winner and guest judge for 2013.

Four other entries from Vietnam also featured prominently among the winners and finalists. The Gold Life by Vo Chi Trung was selected as the Regional Winner for East Asia and the Pacific. Three other Vietnamese entries were among the finalists.

For the second year, a popular vote on CGAP.org determined a People’s Choice winner - Talented Nesma, submitted by Mohamad Gouda of Egypt, which depicts a woman who used a microfinance loan to set up a painting and embroidery business. The photo received 1,236 votes, nearly 400 more than the next most popular one.

The 2013 Grand Prize is a 2,000 USD gift certificate for photography equipment.

The judges also selected 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.

Photographers from 91 countries made this the most competitive year for the CGAP Photo Contest, the eighth year of the competition.-VNA