Evident names 5th Annual Image of the Year Award winners
Evident has unveiled the winners of its 5th Annual Image of the Year Award — a competition that recognises the world’s best in scientific microscopic imaging. The winners were selected from submissions from 29 countries around the world, with this year’s competition also including a video category to showcase the art of capturing small changes in motion under the microscope.
The contest launched on 15 February 2024, with a call for users to submit their best scientific images through to 30 April. All entries were evaluated by a third-party jury on the basis of artistic and visual appeal, scientific impact and microscope proficiency.
Igor Siwanowicz of the United States was selected as the global winner for his striking cross-section image of a Cosmic Orange Mexican aster flower that vividly depicts pollen grains maturing inside anthers. To create this image, Siwanowicz embedded isolated florets in agarose, sectioned on a vibratome and stained with Calcofluor White and Congo Red dyes. The sample was dehydrated, cleared and mounted in methyl salicylate.
“I was lucky to pick my flower buds at the right stage of development, with the pollen grains almost fully mature but still bound together in a mass,” Siwanowicz said. “I think this image shows the true beauty of a common flower that most of us take for granted by extending it well beyond what we can see with the naked eye. The beauty of natural form and design is present on very different scales, sometimes almost in a fractal manner — as we continue to zoom in, the form may lose familiarity but also become a new emotional experience.”
Gerd Günther of Germany was selected as the winner of the materials science and engineering category. Günther’s winning image depicts a human hair knotted with a horsehair, created with incident brightfield illumination to generate a shimmering metallic effect.
The winner of the inaugural Image of the Year Award for video is Zhigang Zheng of China, whose timelapse video of amino acid crystallisation captured the beauty of shifting crystal shapes through the use of polarising mirrors and refractive light. Zheng used a digital camera, a tube lens and an objective lens to capture his video.
Three regional prizes were also awarded. EMEA regional winner Till Stephan (Germany) captured heart cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells; Americas regional winner Marko Pende (USA) submitted an image of a tissue-cleared ladybug; and Asia-Pacific regional winner Daniel Han (Australia) was recognised for his dramatic image of arranged micromanipulated diatom frustules.
“As we celebrated our fifth global instalment of Image of the Year, we were once again deeply impressed by entries from around the world that succeeded in turning the science of microscopy into stunning works of art,” said Evident CEO Wes Pringle. “The addition of our new video category further added to the depth of our submissions and the possibilities explored by our entrants — it was very exciting to experience the wonder of microscopic imagery in motion.
“We were honoured to receive such a large number of exceptional entries from life science and materials science professionals as well as educators, hobbyists and enthusiasts.”
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