ABSTRACT
Consultative Group for the Advancement of the Poor (CGAP) is an independent microfinance policy and research center housed at the World Bank and supported by over 30 development agencies and private foundations. According to Thomas, one of the objectives of the photo contest has been to ground CGAP's model of microfinance more firmly in reality. While the large number of men in the CGAP photos might be explained by the fact that over 95 percent of finalists are male photographers, it also reflects the growing inclusion of men into microfinance activities. Most important for everyday humanitarian support of microfinance, the contest also aims to inform the general public. Marilyn Strathern's argument that ‘new needs are created to promote the need for new debts’ holds as true for microfinance as for the subprime mortgage crisis to which it has sometimes been compared.
