The winners of the 48th annual Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition were recently announced and while the winning image is nothing short of incredible, one “image of distinction” is raising hairs around the world.
This year’s first place prize was awarded to Grigorii Timin, supervised by Dr. Michel Milinkovitch at the University of Geneva, for his remarkable image of an embryonic hand of a Madagascar giant day gecko. Masterfully blending imaging technology and artistic creativity, Timin utilized high-resolution microscopy and image-stitching to capture this species of Phelsuma grandis day gecko.
“This particular image is beautiful and informative, as an overview and also when you magnify it in a certain region, shedding light on how the structures are organized on a cellular level,” said Timin.
An extreme close-up of an ant (Camponotus) taken by Dr. Eugenijus Kavaliauskas, honored as an “image of distinction.” shows the ant’s eyes, hair and antennas and is eerily creepy.
Second place went to Dr. Caleb Dawson for his image of breast tissue showing contractile myoepithelial cells wrapped around milk-producing alveoli.
Satu Paavonsalo and Dr. Sinem Karama from the University of Helsinki in Finland won third place for their image of blood vessel networks in the intestine of an adult mouse.
The contest, founded in 1974 to recognize excellence in microphotography, received nearly 1,300 entries from 72 countries. The submissions are judged on originality, informational content, technical proficiency and visual impact.
To view all the images, click here