Spectacular Winning Photos Of The Nikon’s 2023 Small World Competition
Rodent optic nerve head showing astrocytes (yellow), contractile proteins (red) and retinal vasculature (green) by Hassanain Qambari & Jayden Dickson
The Photomicrography Competition has dramatically revealed its champions, with Hassanain Qambari taking the coveted crown for his enchanting rendition of a rodent’s optic nerve head, an image that seemed to dance with the very essence of life.
Born in the creative cauldron of 1975, the Nikon Small World Competition was a dream nurtured to honor the pioneers of light microscope photography. Over the years, it has evolved into a majestic theater curating the amazing masterpieces of photomicrographers from a kaleidoscope of scientific fields. This year, the competition reached a thunderous crescendo, welcoming nearly 1,900 captivating snapshots from 72 nations. It’s more than a contest; it’s a global carnival of microscopic artistry, where the invisible becomes impossibly vivid.
More: Nikon Small World, Instagram
Matchstick igniting by the friction surface of the box by Ole Bielfeldt
Breast cancer cells by Malgorzata Lisowska
Venomous fangs of a small tarantula by John-Oliver Dum
Auto-fluorescing defensive hairs covering the leaf surface of Eleagnus angustifolia exposed to UV light by Dr. David Maitland
Slime mold (Comatricha nigra) showing capillitial fibers through its translucent peridium by Timothy Boomer
Mouse embryo by Dr. Grigorii Timin & Dr. Michel Milinkovitch
Caffeine crystals by Stefan Eberhard
Cytoskeleton of a dividing myoblast; tubulin (cyan), F-actin (orange) and nucleus (magenta) by Vaibhav Deshmukh
Motor neurons grown in microfluidic device for separation of cell bodies (top) and axons (bottom). Green – microtubules; Red – growth cones (actin) by Melinda Beccari & Dr. Don W. Cleveland
Crystallized sugar syrup by Dr. Diego García
Cuckoo wasp standing on a flower by Sherif Abdallah Ahmed
Blood and lymphatic vasculatures in the ear skin of an adult mouse by Satu Paavonsalo & Dr. Sinem Karaman
Sunflower pollen on an acupuncture needle by John-Oliver Dum
Fluorescent image of an Acropora sp. showing individual polyps with symbiotic zooxanthellae by Dr. Pichaya Lertvilai
Carbon nanotubes by Dr. Diego García
Chinese moon moth (Actias ningpoana) wing scales by Yuan Ji
A cryptocrystalline micrometeorite resting on a #80 testing sieve by Scott Peterson
Stomata in peace lily (Spathiphyllum sp.) leaf epidermis by Marek Miś
Adult transgenic zebrafish head showing blood vessels (blue), lymphatic vessels (yellow), and the skin and scales (magenta) by Daniel Castranova & Dr. Brant M. Weinstein
