Nikon’s 'Small World' is regarded as the leading forum for showing the beauty and complexity of life as seen through the light microscope. The Photomicrography Competition is an annual photography event open to anyone with an interest in microscopy and photography. This year, as photographers submitted their work, magnifying the minuscule, here were some of the most fantastic shots seen in stupendous detail.
Magnifying the Beauty of Life and Nature
From seeds to slime molds to spider eyes, the foremost entries in Nikon’s Small World 2024 Photomicrography Competition illuminate details invisible to the naked eye. This year, jurors sifted through more than 2,000 entries from eighty countries.
First place was awarded to Dr. Bruno Cisterna and Dr. Eric Vitriol of the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, who detailed the delicate and oddly beautiful tendrils and crystal-like edges of the cells comprising a mouse’s brain tumor. According to both, the result took about three months to perfect the staining process of the image.
Second place was awarded to Dr. Marcel Clemens for his image of an electrical arc between a pin and a wire, produced by applying a potential difference of 10,000 volts. Third place was awarded to Chris Romaine for his image of a cannabis plant leaf. The bulbous structures are trichomes or hair-like plant appendages, and the bubbles inside are cannabinoid vesicles, fluid-filled, blister-like structures.
In total, Nikon Small World recognized 87 photos out of thousands of entries from scientists and artists across the globe, so here's a further look at the rest of awe-inspiring images that claimed top honors in 2024 as well.
Nikon Marked Its 50th Small World Anniversary
Nikon, which started the Small World in Motion competition in 2011, is celebrating its 50th annual Small World creation in 2024, exposing the incredible skills needed to photograph tiny phenomena. The photographs demonstrate the vital role photomicrography plays in advancing the deep knowledge of nature, health, and ourselves in addition to providing amazing, nearly magical depictions of species and objects.
A cross section of grass, stamens of flowers, magnifyed colorful butterfly wings, a plant root, a bract (part of the plant's reproductive structures) of a cannabis plant, a ladybug sitting beautifully on a clover leaf among many others were some of the most spectacular images many have had the pleasure to see digitally.
-cross-section-showing-curved-stigma-with-pollen.jpg "Dandelion cross section showing curved stigma with pollen")
Peruse all of the top entries in the contest’s online gallery, and make sure to check out this year’s winners which have been already announced on Nikon's website. To be a part of their photography world, you can also follow them on their Instagram account.
