Photomicrograph exhibit @ MaRS: Vote for your favourite
Microscopic image art from Nikon
MaRS is pleased to present a collection of images from The Nikon International Small World Competition — on display to the public starting this week on the fourth floor. Now in its 33rd year, this competition recognizes the outstanding photography created by exploring our world through the lens of a microscope.
Images exhibited reflect the work of photomicrographers from around the globe, including some very talented Canadian researchers. They illustrate a breathtaking visual representation of the microscopic world that these scientists (and artists) encounter through their work.
A good photomicrograph is an image whose structure, colour, composition and
content combine to create an aesthetically pleasing visualization of a world
rarely seen by the general public. It is also a technical document that may be of great significance to science, industry and academia.
As you ponder these beautiful images, MaRS would like to invite you to think about the intersections that exist between art and science. Though on the surface these two disciplines seem as different as night and day, they both embrace and celebrate the importance of innovation and creativity.
If you’d like to see more images from the Small World Competition, visit www.nikonsmallworld.com. You can also rate this year’s top photomicrographs — so start voting!
Charmian is helping MaRS with the SiG (Social Innovation Generation) initiative this summer. She will be joining Boston Consulting Group in the fall.
The beauty inherent in nature and the natural world has long been appreciated by artists - orginally by painters (including the earliest cave paintings) and more recently wildlife and landscape photographers.
Only more recently have people been seeking beauty and art in the smaller structures of nature that cannot be visualised with the naked eye.
I recognise that for a working scientist there may to some extent be conflicts — the best stain to visualise sub-cellular structure may not always be the aesthetic choice, and the equipment is often rather expensive to be “playing around on” — but nevertheless, you have only to look at some of the images produced to recognise that small can definitely be beautiful, and science can also be art.
Posted by: Sam on August 27th, 2007 at 2:36 pm