Photo competition: close-up of an ant – a face only a mother would find beautiful
Creatures straight out of a horror movie, close-ups that impress: Nikon has the 57 winners of the Small World Photomicrograph Contest announced. The first prize went to Grigorii Timin and Michel Milinkovitch from the University of Geneva. Russian biophysicist Timin and his mentor submit a fluorescent image of the front paw of a Madagascan giant day gecko embryo. The researchers used 63x magnification to document tiny veins and bones in the hand.
Among the many award-winning images, the close-up of an ant’s face is arguably one of the most terrifying. The “portrait” was taken by Eugenijus Kavaliauskas, a Lithuanian photographer. Kavaliauskas uses reflected light to capture the detail of the ant, with its dark red eyes and seemingly angry expression. The photographer didn’t receive any of the main prizes in the competition, but his picture is now going viral on social media.
Nikon’s competition was held for the 48th time this year and is intended to “honor outstanding photographic achievements under the microscope,” according to a press release. According to Nikon, almost 1,300 entries from 72 countries were received for the competition. You can see a selection of the images in the photo gallery above.
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