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The winners of the 49th annual Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition have been revealed. This year’s first-place prize was awarded to Hassanain Qambari, assisted by Jayden Dickson for his image of a rodent optic nerve head. The second-place winner is Ole Bielfeldt with his image of a matchstick igniting against the surface of a matchbox. Third place was awarded to Malgorzata Lisowska for her image of breast cancer cells.

In addition to the top three winners, the Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition recognized 83 photos out of nearly 1,900 photo entries from 72 countries.

“The past 49 years of this competition have borne witness to many innovative and pioneering advancements in scientific imaging technology,” Eric Flem, Senior Manager, CRM and Communications at Nikon Instruments, said. “I am consistently awed by how these advancements make it possible to create art out of science for the public to enjoy,” he added.

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#1

2nd Place - Ole Bielfeldt

2nd Place - Ole Bielfeldt

Macrofying
Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

"Matchstick igniting by the friction surface of the box."

Nikon Small World Photography Competition Report

Nikon Small World is very well known for being the leading forum where people celebrate the skill and beauty of photomicrography.

Competition organizers shared that there are 4 factors to consider when evaluating submissions: originality, informational content, technical proficiency, and visual impact. To select the winners, judges looked at entries that came from all around the globe.

#2

11th Place - Dr. Diego García

11th Place - Dr. Diego García

Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Real Sociedad Española de Física
Madrid, Spain

"Crystallized sugar syrup."

Nikon Small World Photography Competition Report

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shylabouche_1 avatar
Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My!
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It looks like a cross between a stack of crumpled paper, and an ocean on a planet with lots of moons.

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#3

14th Place - John-Oliver Dum

14th Place - John-Oliver Dum

Medienbunker Produktion
Bendorf, Rheinland Pfalz, Germany

"Sunflower pollen on an acupuncture needle."

Nikon Small World Photography Competition Report

The judges of the 2023 Nikon Small World Competition were: Ed Cara, Science and Health Reporter at Gizmodo, James Cutmore, Picture Editor at BBC Science Focus Magazine, Dr. Gary Laevsky, Director of the Confocal Imaging Facility at Princeton University, Dr. Igor Siwanowicz, Research Scientist at Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Dr. Clare Waterman, Cell Biologist and Member of the National Academy of Sciences.

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#4

8th Place - Stefan Eberhard

8th Place - Stefan Eberhard

The University of Georgia
Athens, Georgia, USA

"Caffeine crystals."

Nikon Small World Photography Competition Report

#5

12th Place - Sherif Abdallah Ahmed

12th Place - Sherif Abdallah Ahmed

Tanta University
Faculty of Science
Department of Zoology
Tanta, Egypt

"Cuckoo wasp standing on a flower."

Nikon Small World Photography Competition Report

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arianahale avatar
AspieGirl88
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I’m absolutely terrified of wasps; the typical “yellow jacket” ones, as it always seems like they want to come after me, LOL. Maybe they smell my high blood glucose? IDK, but I might not be so scared if the local wasps looked as pretty as these little guys! 😂

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The Nikon Small World competition was founded in 1974 and in 2011, Nikon Small World in Motion was launched because of advancements in technology that made it possible to record videos or digital time-lapse photos through a microscope. 

The 2023 video winners were announced on September 26th.

#6

17th Place - Yuan Ji

17th Place - Yuan Ji

World Expo Museum
Shanghai, China

"Chinese moon moth (Actias ningpoana) wing scales."

Nikon Small World Photography Competition Report

#7

20th Place - Daniel Castranova And Dr. Brant M. Weinstein

20th Place - Daniel Castranova And Dr. Brant M. Weinstein

National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Bethesda, Maryland, USA

"Adult transgenic zebrafish head showing blood vessels (blue), lymphatic vessels (yellow), and the skin and scales (magenta)."

Nikon Small World Photography Competition Report

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Hassanain Qambari, the first-place winner, shared: “The Nikon Small World competition is great, as it showcases amazing work across many disciplines from around the world. All the images presented in the competition represent the beauty and artistic side of science which may otherwise get overlooked. Such a competition not only celebrates the participants' hard work and passion but may also draw and inspire young scientists to pursue a career in STEM. It certainly inspired me.”

#8

Image Of Distinction - Priscilla Vieto Bonilla And Brandon Antonio Segura Torres

Image Of Distinction - Priscilla Vieto Bonilla And Brandon Antonio Segura Torres

Universidad Nacional del Comahue
Department of Biological Sciences
San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina

"One-week-old Axolotl after hatching."

Nikon Small World Photography Competition Report

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#9

3rd Place - Malgorzata Lisowska

3rd Place - Malgorzata Lisowska

Independent Value-Based Healthcare Consultant Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland

"Breast cancer cells."

Nikon Small World Photography Competition Report

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AspieGirl88
Community Member
11 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Omg. How on earth does something that looks so pretty in an image bring so much pain & sadness?? If no one had said what this was, I’d still be thinking it’s just another cute screensaver pic. Crazy stuff & totally mind-blowing. 🫢

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Calling all scientists, photography and video enthusiasts! The Nikon Small World Competition, marking its 50th anniversary in 2024, invites everyone to join in. To be part of this incredible milestone, you can upload your digital images and videos directly on nikonsmallworld.com. Entry forms for Nikon’s 2024 Small World and Small World in Motion Competitions are available at enter.nikonsmallworld.com.

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#10

Image Of Distinction - Cagri Yalcin

Image Of Distinction - Cagri Yalcin

Impressions Microscopiques
Amsterdam, Noord Holland, The Netherlands

"Crystals of malonic acid dissolved in ethanol."

Nikon Small World Photography Competition Report

#11

Image Of Distinction - Walter Machielsen

Image Of Distinction - Walter Machielsen

Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands

"Buckthorn trichomes."

Nikon Small World Photography Competition Report

#12

Image Of Distinction - Danny J. Sanchez

Image Of Distinction - Danny J. Sanchez

Mineralien LLC
Valley Village, California, USA

"Golden rutile in quartz."

Nikon Small World Photography Competition Report

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AspieGirl88
Community Member
11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

NGL, this looks like it could be a dystopian city in an unknown land! 🤩

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#13

Image Of Distinction - Yusuf Ziya Öztürk

Image Of Distinction - Yusuf Ziya Öztürk

TCDD Teknik Müh. Müş. A.Ş.
Ankara, Çankaya, Turkey

"Bee"

Nikon Small World Photography Competition Report

#14

4th Place - John-Oliver Dum

4th Place - John-Oliver Dum

Medienbunker Produktion
Bendorf, Rheinland Pfalz, Germany

"Venomous fangs of a small tarantula."

Nikon Small World Photography Competition Report

#15

Image Of Distinction - Dr. Frantisek Bednar

Image Of Distinction - Dr. Frantisek Bednar

Svosov, Zilinsky, Slovakia

"Slime mold (Trichia crateriformis)."

Nikon Small World Photography Competition Report

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#16

Image Of Distinction - Raghuram Annadana

Image Of Distinction - Raghuram Annadana

Raghuram Annadana Photography
Bangalore, Karnataka, India

"Developing stamen and stigma inside a Hibiscus flower bud."

Nikon Small World Photography Competition Report

#17

Image Of Distinction - Charles B. Krebs

Image Of Distinction - Charles B. Krebs

Charles Krebs Photography
Issaquah, Washington, USA

"Mushroom gills showing sporophores (sporangiophores)."

Nikon Small World Photography Competition Report

#18

Image Of Distinction - Dr. Håkan Kvarnström

Image Of Distinction - Dr. Håkan Kvarnström

Bromma, Stockholm, Sweden

"Amoeba (Arcella)."

Nikon Small World Photography Competition Report

#19

Honorable Mention - Dr. Amy Engevik

Honorable Mention - Dr. Amy Engevik

Medical University of South Carolina
Department of Regenerative Medicine & Cell Biology
Charleston, South Carolina, USA

"Neonatal mouse intestinal tissue cells."

Nikon Small World Photography Competition Report

#20

Image Of Distinction - Alison Pollack

Image Of Distinction - Alison Pollack

San Anselmo, California, USA

"Slime mold (Diderma tigrinum)."

Nikon Small World Photography Competition Report

#21

Image Of Distinction - Michael Landgrebe

Image Of Distinction - Michael Landgrebe

Weissensberg, Bavaria, Germany

"Fossil diatom."

Nikon Small World Photography Competition Report

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#22

Image Of Distinction - Dr. Pichaya Lertvilai

Image Of Distinction - Dr. Pichaya Lertvilai

University of California, San Diego
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
La Jolla, California, USA

"Coral (Acropora granulosa) fluorescing under blue light."

Nikon Small World Photography Competition Report

#23

Image Of Distinction - Timothy Boomer

Image Of Distinction - Timothy Boomer

WildMacro
Vacaville, California, USA

"Slime mold (Didymium sp.) fruiting bodies."

Nikon Small World Photography Competition Report

#24

1st Place - Hassanain Qambari And Jayden Dickson

1st Place - Hassanain Qambari And Jayden Dickson

Lions Eye Institute
Department of Physiology & Pharmacology
Perth, Western Australia, Australia

"Rodent optic nerve head showing astrocytes (yellow), contractile proteins (red) and retinal vasculature (green)."

Nikon Small World Photography Competition Report

#25

Image Of Distinction - Ricardo Roberto Fernández Martínez

Image Of Distinction - Ricardo Roberto Fernández Martínez

IES Virgen de la Luz
Department of Biology and Geology
Avilés, Asturias, Spain

"Tail of planktonic shrimp larvae."

Nikon Small World Photography Competition Report

#26

Honorable Mention - Ángel Navarro Gómez

Honorable Mention - Ángel Navarro Gómez

Madrid, Spain

"Carpenter bee (Xylocopa violacea) head and antenna."

Nikon Small World Photography Competition Report

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#27

5th Place - Dr. David Maitland

5th Place - Dr. David Maitland

Feltwell, Norfolk, United Kingdom

"Auto-fluorescing defensive hairs covering the leaf surface of Eleagnus angustifolia exposed to UV light."

Nikon Small World Photography Competition Report

#28

18th Place - Scott Peterson

18th Place - Scott Peterson

New Hope, Minnesota, USA

"A cryptocrystalline micrometeorite resting on a #80 testing sieve."

Nikon Small World Photography Competition Report

#29

15th Place - Dr. Pichaya Lertvilai

15th Place - Dr. Pichaya Lertvilai

University of California, San Diego
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
La Jolla, California, USA

"Fluorescent image of an Acropora sp. showing individual polyps with symbiotic zooxanthellae."

Nikon Small World Photography Competition Report

#30

13th Place - Satu Paavonsalo And Dr. Sinem Karaman

13th Place - Satu Paavonsalo And Dr. Sinem Karaman

University of Helsinki
Individualized Drug Therapy Research Program, Faculty of Medicine
Helsinki, Finland

"Blood and lymphatic vasculatures in the ear skin of an adult mouse."

Nikon Small World Photography Competition Report

Note: this post originally had 86 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.

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