Harry Cruz, who is originally from the Philippines and who works as a certified public accountant in Dubai, wins this summer's travel photo competition with this photograph. "The shot was taken outside of Bangkok, Thailand during our honeymoon in September 2008. Of all the interesting subjects in the floating market, this boatwoman caught much of my attention. Imagine, an 80-ish year old grandmother, paddling a boat into the floating market in order to trade her vegetables for money. I don't think there is anything like that in the world. Her stroke was very slow but consistent.
"In photography I guess that is more of a good thing because I was able to compose and meter correctly in order to get a nice photograph. I was still new to photography at that time." Karen Davies, the deputy photo editor of The National, who judged the competition, says that the winning entry is well-composed and makes photography look easy. "Technically Harry has made a photograph that suggests motion and movement - something that is not very easy to do. It's also a good environmental portrait that has captured the woman's grit, determination and dignity. The two young women along for a ride in the background offer some generational contrast."
Harry wins the new Canon PowerShot D10, a compact, shockproof, underwater digital camera
