MELVILLE, N.Y., Oct. 4, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nikon is pleased to announce the winners of the 2011 Small World Photomicrography Competition, with this year's top honors going to Dr. Igor Siwanowicz for a micrograph that demonstrates the beauty in "ugly".
When a small bug landed on Dr. Igor Siwanowicz's hand and began "fiercely digging its mandibles" into his skin, he didn't swat it away. Instead, he removed a tiny test tube from his pocket – which he carries for occasions such as these – and captured it as a potential subject for his photomicrography passion.
Little did he know at the time, but this chance meeting with what is actually the Common Green Lacewing would lead to Dr. Siwanowicz, of Madison, Wisconsin being named the winner of the 2011 Nikon Small World competition. Nikon Small World recognizes excellence in photomicrography, honoring images that successfully showcase the delicate balance between difficult scientific technique and exquisite artistic quality.
"My art causes a dissonance for its viewer - a conflict between the culturally imprinted perception of an insect as something repulsive and ugly with a newly-acquired admiration of the beauty of its form," said Dr. Siwanowicz, who completed his doctoral studies in protein crystallography but now works in invertebrate photography for research. "My hope is that in some way, my photomicrographs prompt people to realize the presence of cultural programming, question it, and eventually throw it off as an illusion. I am so pleased to be recognized by Nikon Small World for this philosophy, but also the technical expertise it required to capture this photo."
Dr. Siwanowicz only had one take to capture his specimen because of specific needs for its dissection. Using a confocal microscope, he carefully fixed and dyed the sample to take the image – difficult as the head of the bug measured just 1.3 mm in length.
"Year over year, we receive spectacular images for the Nikon Small World Competition, and it is our privilege to honor the talented researchers and photomicrographers who submit their amazing work," said Eric Flem, Communications Manager, Nikon Instruments. "As evidenced by Dr. Siwanowicz, the difficulty in marrying technique and aesthetics is no easy feat. We are proud that this competition is able to showcase this beautiful imagery and demonstrate some of the many facets of science."
The top five images this year are:
- Dr. Igor Siwanowicz, Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology; Portrait of a Chrysopa sp. (green lacewing) larva
- Dr. Donna Stolz, University of Pittsburgh; Blade of Grass
- Frank Fox, Fachhochschule Trier; Melosira Moniliformis, living specimen
- Dr. Robin Young, The University of British Columbia; Instrinsic flourescence in Lepidozia reptans (liverwort)
- Alfred Pasieka, Hilden Germany; Microchip surface, 3D Construction
Nikon has also awarded several "Honorable Mentions" and "Images of Distinction" this year to outstanding photomicrographs that demonstrate superior technical competency and artistic skill. This year, the competition awarded 92 winners (some of whom won multiple times) and received entries from almost 70 countries around the world.
This year's judges were once again comprised of top science and media industry experts: Alan Boyle, Science Editor, MSNBC.com; Dan Vergano, Science Columnist, USA Today; Simon Watkins, Ph.D., Founder and Director of The University of Pittsburg Center for Biological Imaging and Professor and Vice Chairman for Department of Cell Biology and Physiology at the University Of Pittsburgh School of Medicine; and Richard Day, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology, Indiana University School of Medicine.
Top images from the 2011 Nikon Small World Competition will be exhibited in a full-color calendar and through a national museum tour. For additional information, please visit www.nikonsmallworld.com, or follow the conversation on Facebook and Twitter @NikonSmallWorld.
THE OFFICIAL 2011 NIKON SMALL WORLD WINNERS
The following are the Top 20 and Honorable Mentions for Nikon Small World 2011. The full gallery of winning images, along with Images of Distinction can be viewed at www.nikonsmallworld.com.
| 1st Place |
| Dr. Igor Siwanowicz |
| Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology |
| Martinsried, Germany |
| Portrait of a Chrysopa sp. (green lacewing) larva (20x) |
| Confocal |
| 2nd Place |
| Dr. Donna Stolz |
| University of Pittsburgh |
| Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Blade of Grass (200X) |
| Confocal stack reconstruction, Autofluorescence |
| 3rd Place |
| Frank Fox |
| Fachhochschule Trier |
| Trier, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany |
| Melosira moniliformis, living specimen (320X) |
| Differential Interference Contrast |
| 4th Place |
| Dr. Robin Young |
| The University of British Columbia |
| Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Intrinsic fluorescence in Lepidozia reptans (liverwort) (20X) |
| Live mount, Confocal microscopy |
| 5th Place |
| Alfred Pasieka |
| Germany |
| Microchip surface, 3D reconstruction (500X) |
| Incident light, Normarski Interference Contrast |
| 6th Place |
| Dennis Callahan |
| California Institute of Technology |
| Pasadena, California, USA |
| Cracked gallium arsenide solar cell films (50X) |
| Brightfield |
| 7th Place |
| Gabriel Luna |
| UC Santa Barbara, Neuroscience Research Institute |
| Santa Barbara, California, USA |
| Retinal flatmount of mouse nerve fiber layer (40X) |
| Laser Confocal Scanning |
| 8th Place |
| Dr. Bernardo Cesare |
| Department of Geosciences |
| Padova, Italy |
| Graphite-bearing granulite from Kerala (India) (2.5X) |
| Polarized light |
| 9th Place |
| Dr. Jan Michels |
| Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel |
| Kiel, Germany |
| Temora longicornis (marine copepod), ventral view (10X) |
| Confocal, Autofluorescence and Congo Red Fluorescence |
| 10th Place |
| Joan Rohl |
| Institute for Biochemistry and Biology |
| Potsdam, Germany |
| Daphnia magna (freshwater water flea) (100X) |
| Differential Interference Contrast |
| 11th Place |
| Dr. Jan Michels |
| Christian-Albrechts-Universitat zu Kiel |
| Kiel, Germany |
| Ant head, frontal view (10X) |
| Confocal, autofluorescence |
| 12th Place |
| Thomas Deerinck |
| National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research |
| La Jolla, California, USA |
| HeLa (cancer) cells (300X) |
| 2-Photon fluorescence |
| 13th Place |
| Dr. Stephen S. Nagy |
| Montana Diatoms |
| Helena, Montana, USA |
| Curare vine in cross-section, Chondrodendron tomentosum (45X) |
| Brightfield, digitally inverted |
| 14th Place |
| Yanping Wang |
| Beijing Planetarium |
| Beijing, China |
| Sand (4X) |
| Reflected light |
| 15th Place |
| James H. Nicholson |
| Coral Culture and Collaborative Research Facility, NOAA/NOS/NCCOS/CCEHBR & HML |
| Charleston, South Carolina, USA |
| Porites lobata (lobe coral), live specimen displaying tissue pigmentation response with red fluorescence (12X) |
| Epifluorescence with triple band (U/B/G) excitation |
| 16th Place |
| Dr. Christopher Guérin |
| VIB (Flanders Institute of Biotechnology) |
| Ghent, Belgium |
| Cultured cells growing on a bio-polymer scaffold (63X) |
| Confocal |
| 17th Place |
| Dr. Witold Kilarski |
| EPFL-Laboratory of Lymphatic and Cancer Bioengineering |
| Lausanne, Switzerland |
| Litomosoides sigmodontis (filaria worms) inside lymphatic vessels of the mouse ear (150X) |
| Fluorescent confocal microscopy |
| 18th Place |
| Benjamin Blonder, David Elliott |
| University of Arizona |
| Tucson, Arizona, USA |
| Venation network of young Populus tremuloides (quaking aspen) leaf (4X) |
| Brightfield image of safranin-stained tissue |
| 19th Place |
| Dr. Donna Stolz |
| The University of Pittsburgh |
| Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Mammalian cell collage stained for various proteins and organelles, assembled into a wreath (200-2000X) |
| Single slice confocal cell mosaic |
| 20th Place |
| Douglas Moore |
| University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point |
| Stevens Point, Wisconsin, USA |
| Agatized dinosaur bone cells, unpolished, ca. 150 million years old (42X) |
| Stereomicroscopy |
| Honorable Mentions |
| Jose R. Almodovar |
| Microscopy Center, Biology Department, UPR Mayaguez Campus |
| Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, USA |
| Utricularia gibba (bladderwort) bladder (40X) |
| Darkfield |
| Dr. Paul Appleton |
| University of Dundee |
| Dundee, Scotland, UK |
| Mouse small intestine, stem cells in crypts (40X) |
| Confocal |
| Dr. Pedro Barrios-Perez |
| National Research Council of Canada/Institute for Microstructural Sciences |
| Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
| Gallium antimonide semiconductor wafer surface after metal peel-off (200X) |
| Dr. Jorge Bernardino de la Serna |
| MEMPHYS - Center for Biomembrane Physics, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology |
| Odense, Denmark |
| Giant liposomes of pulmonary surfactant (40X) |
| Confocal |
| Gerd A. Guenther |
| Duesseldorf, Germany |
| Nassula ornata (freshwater ciliate), conjugation, living specimens (630X) |
| Differential Interference Contrast |
| Gerd Guenther |
| Dusseldorf, Germany |
| Nassula ornata (freshwater ciliate), conjugation, living specimens (1000X) |
| Differential Interference Contrast |
| Dr. Marta Guervos |
| Image Processing Unit, Scientific-Technical Facilities, University of Oviedo |
| Asturias, Spain |
| Acacia dealbata (Silver Wattle) pollen grains (40X) |
| Confocal, autofluorescence |
| Charles Krebs |
| Charles Krebs Photography |
| Issaquah, Washington, USA |
| Hydra sp. capturing water flea (40X) |
| Darkfield |
| Dr. David Maitland |
| www.davidmaitland.com |
| Feltwell, UK |
| Enormous dorsal (10X) |
| Reflected (Episcopic), Diffuse Illumination |
| Poulomi Ray |
| Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University |
| Clemson, South Carolina, USA |
| Chick embryo intestine (20X) |
| Confocal |
| Kevin Smith |
| MetPrep Ltd. |
| Warwickshire, UK |
| Charge coupled device (CCD) sensor, direct surface view (1000x) |
| Confocal |
| Wim van Egmond |
| Micropolitan Museum |
| Rotterdam, Netherlands |
| Argulus (fish louse) (60X) |
| Darkfield |
| Yanping Wang |
| Beijing Planetarium |
| Beijing, China |
| Snowflake (4X) |
| Reflected and transmitted light |
| Dr. Torsten Wittmann |
| University of California, San Fransisco |
| San Francisco, California, USA |
| Bovine pulmonary artery endothelial (BPAE) cells fixed and stained for actin, mitochondria, and DNA (60X) |
| Epi-fluorescence; multi-image stitching |
ABOUT THE NIKON SMALL WORLD PHOTOMICROGRAPHY COMPETITION
The Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition is open to anyone with an interest in photography. Participants may submit their images in traditional 35mm format, or upload digital images directly at www.nikonsmallworld.com. The first, second and third prize winners will receive a selection of Nikon products and equipment worth $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000, respectively. For additional information, contact Nikon Small World, Nikon Instruments Inc., 1300 Walt Whitman Road, Melville, NY 11747, USA or phone (631) 547-8569.
ABOUT NIKON INSTRUMENTS INC.
Nikon Instruments, Inc. is a world leader in the development and manufacture of optical and digital imaging technology for biomedical applications. Now in its 93rd year, Nikon provides complete optical systems that offer optimal versatility, performance and productivity. Cutting-edge instruments include microscopes, precision measuring equipment, digital imaging products and software. Nikon Instruments is the microscopy and instrumentation arm of Nikon Inc., the world leader in digital imaging, precision optics and photo imaging technology. For more information, visit www.nikoninstruments.com. Product-related inquiries may be directed to Nikon Instruments at 800-52-NIKON.
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