Vietnamese lensman named Southeast Asian winner in UK food photo contest

His photo shows fishermen in the process of pulling out green nets they had cast to catch a specialty of Vietnam’s central coast, which is used to produce the quintessential Vietnamese condiment, fish sauce or nuoc mam, the U.K. contest announced on its website.

The photo was taken off Yen Islet where a large number of boats go to fish.

Nguyen Ngoc Thien’s photo taken on Hon Yen Islet off Phu Yen coast shows fishermen in the process of pulling out green nets they had cast to catch anchovy.

“The soft light of a new day illuminates the smoke from the fishing boat engine and the shape of green nets moving underneath the water surface when local fishermen pull in their nets,” the website said.

The contest received thousands of entries in 23 categories from more than 60 countries and territories.

The overall winner was Indian photographer Debdatta Chakraborty for a picture of a kebab seller basting meat over a charcoal oven.

The finalists’ photos will be exhibited at The Royal Photographic Society in Britain in November-December this year.

Organized since 2011, the Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year awards recognize the art and diversity of food photography with a top prize of £5000 ($6,169).

Last year two Vietnamese photographers Tran Viet Van and Nguyen Huu Thong won first prizes in different categories.