A photo of drops of ink inside a printer wins a prestigious photography competition

An image of ink drops inside a printer won first place in the Nikon Small World Microscopy Contest, a competition focusing on images taken through a microscope. According to a statement issued by organizers on Wednesday, Ole Bielefeldt, a student and experimental photographer from Germany, took this photo using a camera device he built himself.

Bielefeldt, who lives in Cologne, Germany, said he was inspired by the mystery of how inkjet printers transfer images onto paper so precisely. He explained in a statement: “I found it very exciting because I did not know how (these printers) worked.”

He explained: "It was like magic that I did not understand, but now I understand how it happens." This work enabled Bielefeldt to win the 52nd edition of the competition.

Eric Flem of Nikon Instruments emphasized that the image “captures the essence of the strength of the Nikon Small World Competition, as it represents the intersection of microscopic photography, ingenuity and creativity.” “By using a microscopic lens in an innovative way, Bielefeldt transformed something familiar into something completely new and never seen before,” Flame noted in a statement.

He continued: "This is a reminder that the microscope is not just a scientific tool, but it is also a creative tool capable of expanding the horizons of our view of the world around us and our perception of it." Second place went to John-Oliver Daum, who documented an image of a jumping spider carrying pollen, while third place went to Kaylin Wolf and Rachel Flannery for an image of neurons inside the brain of a mouse.

It is worth noting that Nikon also organizes an annual video competition entitled “The Small Moving World Under the Microscope.” In mid-October, the company announced that the winner of that competition had been disqualified after organizers concluded that his use of generative artificial intelligence violated the competition rules.