From the human perspective things seem to have one appearance, but this changes diametrically when they are subjected to a microscope, this is what happened to this ant under the microscope. We tend to see ants as tiny beings that wander into the most unexpected corners and more as a community force than as solitary individuals.
But perhaps you will never observe one of these insects as you will in one of the images participating in the Nikon contest that rewards the world seen under the microscope. Nikon Small World 2022 took place a few weeks ago and awarded different photographs of the microscopic world. The winner was the leg of a gecko that shines under the lens and had a huge job behind it. But, one of the participating photographs that did not win the contest award is the one captured by the Lithuanian Eugenijus Kavaliauskas.
Ant under the microscope, beyond a science fiction monster
Kavaliauskas is dedicated to wildlife photography and specializes in birds of prey, but for the contest, he decided to give a different view to the forests he constantly visits; this time in the smallest corner. He decided to point his shutter at an ant (put the ant under the microscope) although he said he did not want to get a boring photograph of an insect, but rather wanted to convey the idea of ’creation’. “I am always looking for details, shadows and undiscovered corners. The main goal of photography is to be a discoverer,” she says.
The Lithuanian photographer obtained the very close-up of an ant’s face using an optical microscope with the reflected light technique and a X5 lens magnification. In this way, he managed to capture the ant’s face under the microscope with a level of detail that had not been previously observed.
Although there are other photographs that show ants up close, they usually do not show the level of detail that Kavaliauskas managed to capture. In the image of him one can admire the red eyes of the ant and a texture of his face that, accompanied by his hairiness that gives the sensation of uneven and sharp teeth, gives him a resemblance to an orc straight out of the fantastic world of JRR Tolkien.
Of course, the Lithuanian photographer’s intention is not to arouse terror towards these small insects, but rather to awaken curiosity among viewers. A myriad of details in nature await to be discovered, we just need to look in the right directions to change our perspective on the beings that share the planet with us.
Although the image of the ant’s face under the microscope received a viral reception on the Internet, Kavaliauskas did not receive the first prize in the contest.