Photography

Photographing the Microscopic: Winners of Nikon Small World 2025

Some of the incredible winning and honored images from this year’s photomicrography competition, selected from nearly 2,000 entries. See if you can guess what each image is showing before reading the caption.

By Alan Taylor

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A microscopic image of a rice weevil perched on a grain of rice
Zhang You, Kunming, Yunnan, China
Overall Winner: A rice weevil perched on a grain of rice
Green spheres of algae trapped in a small drop of water
Dr. Jan Rosenboom Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
2nd Place: Colonial algae (Volvox) spheres in a drop of water
A microscopic view of soy sauce, appearing as multiple square and rectangular crystals floating in a fluid
Mishal Abdulaziz Alryhan, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
Honorable Mention: Crystallized-soy-sauce fusion with alum
A close view of the legs of a tiny crustacean
Zachary Sanchez, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
20th Place: Marine copepod
A microscopic view of two butterfly eggs, looking like tiny red hats
Ye Fei Zhang, Jiangyin, Jiangsu, China
Image of Distinction: Butterfly (Artopoetes pryeri) eggs
A dead fly, resting on a leaf, with two bits of parasitic fungus growing out of it
Eduardo Agustin Carrasco, Cuenca, Azuay, Ecuador
19th Place: Parasitic fungus (Cordycipitaceae) on a fly (Calliphoridae)
Geometric patterns observed in crystallized soy sauce under a microscope
Marek Miś, Suwalki, Podlaskie, Poland
Image of Distinction: Crystallized soy sauce
a08_iod_Schmittling.jpg
Robert Schmittling Hillsborough, North Carolina, USA
Image of Distinction: Eye of potato (stomate)
Reddish-colored blobs among other bits of fungus
Wim van Egmond, Berkel en Rodenrijs, Zuid Holland, Netherlands
Ninth Place: A fungus (Talaromyces purpureogenus) known for its red, diffused pigment
Sparkly blue appendages of a tiny sea slug
Solvin Zankl, Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Image of Distinction: A floating sea slug (Glaucus atlanticus), also known as the blue sea dragon
A microscopic view of the wing of a chicken embryo
Dr. Rory L. Cooper and Professor Michel Milinkovitch, Geneva, Switzerland
Image of Distinction: Wing of a chicken embryo after 11 days of development
A microscopic view of the spore sacs of a fern, looking almost like green caterpillars wrapped around small walnuts
Rogelio Moreno, Panama, Panama
16th Place: Spore sacs (sporangia) of a fern
A microscopic view of frost, looking like many tiny hexagonal slabs stacked on top of each other
Gregory B. Murray, Pritchard, British Columbia, Canada
Honorable Mention: Frost on a wooden railing
A microscopic view of the head of a parasitic fly
Bernard Allard, Sucy-en-Bry, France
Image of Distinction: Parasitic fly (Crataerina hirundinis)
Fourteen insect eggs, attached to a leaf, seen under a microscope. Each egg has a
Dr. Walter Ferrari, Rio Cuarto, Cordoba, Argentina
Image of Distinction: True bug (Hemipteran) eggs on a leaf
A microscopic view of a bamboo leaf in cross-section, showing many vascular channels, appearing like a groupings of small holes.
Dr. David Maitland, St. Andrews, Fife, United Kingdom
Image of Distinction: Vascular bundles in a bamboo leaf (Phyllostachys sp.)
A tree-like orange slime mold, seen with a microscope
Frederic Labaune, Auxonne, Burgundy, France
Image of Distinction: Slime mold (Arcyria denudata)
A microscopic view of a water flea seen against a black background. The water flea is partially transparent, showing some of its internal organs and a collection of eggs inside.
Jianguo Mao, Shanghai, Shanghai, China
Image of Distinction: Pregnant water flea (Daphnia)
A microscopic look at many hook-like appendages of a moth larva
Kendall O. Myers and Dr. Matthew S. Lehnert, North Canton, Ohio, USA
Honorable Mention: Hooklike crochets on the larva of an Io (Automeris io) moth
A very close view of the head of a fly, with large yellow eyes with small dark spots on them.
Özgür Kerem Bulur, Istanbul, Turkey
Image of Distinction: Spotted-eye hoverfly

Be sure to visit the Nikon Small World contest website to see the full set of winning and honored images.

About the Author

Alan Taylor is a senior editor at The Atlantic.