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The winners of the 2026 Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition
From close-ups of sea snails, mouse eyes and jumping spiders to what ink looks like in your inkjet printer when it’s at work, these are the top 20 best photos of the 2026 Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition.
Published:
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(Courtesy Nikon Small World)
Photo by:
Justin Theodore Benttinen
Benttinen Photography
Berkeley, California, USA
Techniques
• Image Stacking
• Reflected Light
Magnification
• 20X (Objective Lens Magnification)
(Courtesy Nikon Small World)
Photo by:
Satu Paavonsalo, Dr. Sinem Karaman
University of Helsinki
Individualized Drug Therapy Research Program
Helsinki, Uudenmaan lääni, Finland
Techniques
• Confocal
Magnification
• 20X (Objective Lens Magnification)
(Courtesy Nikon Small World)
Photo by:
Bilal Akhtar
Institute of Molecular Biology, Mainz
Department of RNA Biology
Mainz, Germany
Techniques
• Confocal
Magnification
• 40X (Objective Lens Magnification)
(Courtesy Nikon Small World)
Photo by:
Dr. Gauri Kulkarni
Wake Forest School of Medicine
Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM)
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA
Techniques
• Confocal
Magnification
• 20X (Objective Lens Magnification)
(Courtesy Nikon Small World)
Photo by:
Pierre Nouaux, Laurent Kodjabachian, Camille Boutin
Institut de Biologie du Développement de Marseille (IBDM)
Marseille, France
Techniques
• Confocal
• Fluorescence
Magnification
• 63X (Objective Lens Magnification)
(Courtesy Nikon Small World)
Photo by:
Dr. Julien Resseguier
University of Oslo
Department of Biosciences
Oslo, Viken, Norway
Techniques
• Confocal
• Deconvolution
• Fluorescence
Magnification
• 60X (Objective Lens Magnification)
(Courtesy Nikon Small World)
Photo by:
Michael Crutchley
Pembrokeshire, Southwest Wales, United Kingdom
Techniques
• Image Stacking
Magnification
• 20X (Objective Lens Magnification)
(Courtesy Nikon Small World)
Photo by:
Sebastian Sparenga
McCrone Research Institute
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Techniques
• Polarized Light
Magnification
• 10X (Objective Lens Magnification)
(Courtesy Nikon Small World)
Photo by:
Dr. Gonzalo Quiroga Artigas
CRBM-CNRS
Montpellier, Hérault, France
Techniques
• Confocal
Magnification
• 40X (Objective Lens Magnification)
(Courtesy Nikon Small World)
Photo by:
Svenja Carolin Kling
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine
La Jolla, California, USA
Techniques
• Confocal
Magnification
• 20X (Objective Lens Magnification)
(Courtesy Nikon Small World)
Photo by:
Michael Parra Puentes
Macrotipos
Bogotá, Cundinamarca, Colombia
Techniques
• Image Stacking
Magnification
• 3.7X (Objective Lens Magnification)
(Courtesy Nikon Small World)
Photo by:
Dr. Francisco Lázaro-Diéguez
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Bronx, New York, USA
Techniques
• Confocal
Magnification
• 40X (Objective Lens Magnification)
(Courtesy Nikon Small World)
Photo by:
Dr. Marcel Clemens
Verona, Veneto, Italy
Techniques
• Image Stacking
Magnification
• 10X (Objective Lens Magnification)
(Courtesy Nikon Small World)
Photo by:
Dr. Bruno Cisterna, Dr. Eric Vitriol
Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University
Department of Neuroscience & Regenerative Medicine
Augusta, Georgia, USA
Techniques
• Confocal
Magnification
• 20X (Objective Lens Magnification)
(Courtesy Nikon Small World)
Photo by:
Eric Epstein
Brooklyn, New York, USA
Techniques
• Image Stacking
Magnification
• 10X (Objective Lens Magnification)
(Courtesy Nikon Small World)
Photo by:
Michael Crutchley
Pembrokeshire, Southwest Wales, United Kingdom
Techniques
• Darkfield
• Image Stacking
Magnification
• 10X (Objective Lens Magnification)
(Courtesy Nikon Small World)
Photo by:
Justin Theodore Benttinen
Benttinen Photography
Berkeley, California, USA
Techniques
• Image Stacking
• Reflected Light
Magnification
• 20X (Objective Lens Magnification)
(Courtesy Nikon Small World)
Photo by:
Kaelin Wulf, Rachel Flannery
Allen Institute
Department of Neural Dynamics
Seattle, Washington, USA
Techniques
• Expansion Microscopy
• Fluorescence
• Light Sheet
Magnification
• 5X (Objective Lens Magnification)
(Courtesy Nikon Small World)
Photo by:
John-Oliver Dum
Medienbunker Produktion
Bendorf, Rheinland Pfalz, Germany
Techniques
• Image Stacking
Magnification
• 20X (Objective Lens Magnification)
(Courtesy Nikon Small World)
Photo by:
Ole Bielfeldt
Macrofying
Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Techniques
• Slow-Motion
• Image Stacking
Magnification
• 20X (Objective Lens Magnification)
(Courtesy Nikon Small World)