Image of Hanoi soy sauce village fetches Bangladeshi top prize in global photo contest

The photo taken by Bangladeshi Azim Khan Ronnie shows columns of earthen jars with lids in various colors and two women wearing conical hats preparing to make traditional soy sauces at Cu Da, a village in Thanh Oai District on the outskirts of the capital.

Two women wearing conical hats prepare materials to make traditional soy sauce in Cu Da Village, Hanoi. Photo by Azim Khan Ronnie

"The dedication with which the cooks make the sauce based on a recipe that is over 400 years old fascinated Azim," said the photo description.

In the past every household in the village used to store jars of soy sauce to use all year round. Today they make not only for their own use but also to sell outside the village.

Soy sauce is made from glutinous rice, salt, soybean, and water and is especially delicious if made with rainwater.

The contest received over 606,289 entries from 170 countries and territories in 10 categories, also including landscape, people, nature, and food & cooking.

A photo of a frozen lighthouse taken by Germany's Manfred Voss won the overall competition.

Instituted over 50 years ago CEWE is a photo printing service in Europe that delivers products like wedding photobooks, greeting cards and holiday snaps.