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The 52nd annual Nikon Small World competition honours the world’s most remarkable images captured through a microscope. The first-place prize was awarded to Ole Bielfeldt, a student and experimental photographer, for his image of ink droplets suspended inside an inkjet printer as it prints
Winning image – a microscopic view of an inkjet printer depositing ink on to paper. Photograph: Ole Bielfeldt/Nikon Small WorldWed 21 Oct 2026 15.00 BST
2nd - John Oliver Dum – Bendorf, Germany
Jumping spider (Salticus scenicus) with pollenPhotograph: John Oliver Dum/Nikon Small World
3rd - Kaelin Wulf & Rachel Flannery – Seattle, US
Neurons in an expanded mouse brainPhotograph: Kaelin Wulf & Rachel Flannery/Nikon Small World
4th - Justin Theodore Benttinen – Berkeley, California, US
Tip of a ballpoint penPhotograph: Justin Theodore Benttinen/Nikon Small World
5th - Mike Crutchley – Pembrokeshire, UK
Inner structure of a closed daisyPhotograph: Mike Crutchley/Nikon Small World
6th - Eric Epstein – New York, US
Hemitrichia slime mould spore structures (fruiting bodies)Photograph: Eric Epstein/Nikon Small World
7th - Dr Bruno Cisterna & Dr Eric Vitriol – Georgia, US
Human neurons reprogrammed from skin cells growing in a microfluidic chamberPhotograph: Dr Bruno Cisterna & Dr Eric Vitriol/Nikon Small World
8th - Dr Marcel Clemens – Verona, Italy
Pencil lead during exposure to a high-voltage electrical dischargePhotograph: Dr Marcel Clemens/Nikon Small World
9th - Dr Francisco Lázaro-Diéguez – New York, US
Dedifferentiated liver endothelial cellPhotograph: Dr Francisco Lázaro-Diéguez/Nikon Small World
10th - Michael Parra Puentes – Bogotá, Colombia
A parasitoid wasp (𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑢𝑟𝑎 sp.) emerging from a butterfly chrysalis (𝑂𝑝𝑠𝑖𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑠 sp.)Photograph: Michael Parra Puentes/Nikon Small World
11th - Svenja Carolin Kling, California, US
A 20-day-old sea urchin larva with blue fluorescent nucleiPhotograph: Svenja Carolin Kling/Nikon Small World
12th - Dr Gonzalo Quiroga Artigas – Montpellier, France
A tardigrade moulting and laying an egg in the old skinPhotograph: Dr Gonzalo Quiroga Artigas/Nikon Small World
13th - Sebastian Sparenga – Chicago, US
Recrystallised estrogenPhotograph: Sebastian Sparenga/Nikon Small World
14th - Mike Crutchley – Pembrokeshire, UK
Pilobolus fungi on sheep dungPhotograph: Mike Crutchley/Nikon Small World
15th - Dr Julien Resseguier – Oslo, Norway
Mouse trachea showing tiny hair-like cells that move mucus and nearby nerves (blue) associated with the muscles (yellow)Photograph: Dr Julien Resseguier/Nikon Small World
16th - Pierre Nouaux, Laurent Kodjabachian and Camille Boutin – Toulouse, France
A172 Embryonic Xenopus skin cells, showing cilia (green), centrioles (red), and cell membranes (white)Photograph: Pierre Nouaux & Laurent Kodjabachian, Camille Boutin/Nikon Small World
17th - Dr Gauri Kulkarni – North Carolina, US
Lab-grown human intestinal tissue showing glowing, brick-like epithelial cell connections that form the intestine’s protective barrierPhotograph: Dr Gauri Kulkarni/Nikon Small World
18th - Bilal Akhtar – Mainz, Germany
14-day-old mouse hippocampal neurons showing nuclei (green) and synaptic proteins (red)Photograph: Bilal Akhtar/Nikon Small World
19th - Satu Paavonsalo and Dr Sinem Karaman – Helsinki, Finland
Cross-section of a mouse eye showing retinal blood vessels and the optic nervePhotograph: Satu Paavonsalo & Dr Sinem Karaman/Nikon Small World
20th - Justin Theodore Benttinen – California, US
Large sea snail (abalone) shellPhotograph: Justin Theodore Benttinen/Nikon Small World
1st - Ole Bielfeldt – Cologne, Germany | Microscopic view of an inkjet printer depositing ink on to paper
Bielfeldt is a student and experimental photographer based in Cologne. His image of ink droplets suspended inside an inkjet printer as it prints was captured using a self-constructed imaging rig, using a microscope objective. Bielfeldt’s image sheds light on the previously unseen intricacies of a common process: printing words on to paperPhotograph: Ole Bielfeldt/Nikon Small World
Honourable mention – Dr Mark Slabodnick – Galesburg, US
A pair of elongated Stentor coeruleus cells during mating. The cells are fused at the anterior edge of their mouth to allow for the transfer of DNAPhotograph: Dr Mark Slabodnick/Nikon Small WorldExplore more on these topics
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