Feb 11, 2023

A Face Only A Mother Could love

By Zoe Sottile

No, this photo doesn't portray one of the new creatures on HBO's "House of the Dragon," or an outtake from a horror movie. It's an award-winning close-up photo of ... an ant.

The eye-popping photo is one of 57 Images of Distinction in Nikon's Small World Photomicrography Competition. The terrifying portrait was captured by Eugenijus Kavaliauskas, a Lithuanian photographer.

This is the 48th year of the competition, which seeks to "recognize excellence in photography through the microscope," according to a news release shared with CNN.

The 2022 contest received almost 1,300 entries from 72 countries, according to Nikon.

Kavaliauskas previously worked as a bird photographer before pivoting to insects, according to his website. He used reflected light to capture the shocking ant close-up, complete with what seems to be an angry expression.

Although the image received a viral welcome on the internet, Kavaliauskas didn't receive the top prize in the competition. That honor went to Swedish photographers Grigorii Timin and Michel Milinkovitch, who produced a beautiful fluorescent image of the front paw of a Madagascar giant day gecko's embryo. They used 63x magnification to document the hand's tiny veins and bones. -CNN

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