Nature 1st place winner

I like to think these these microscopic images of diatoms form an intersection between art and science. They were captured using a scanning electron microscope. SEM technology can magnify up to 500,000 times. Diatoms are microscopic algae (plant-like microbes) that thrive in many aquatic environments. They play a remarkable ecological role in nature. They absorb CO2 and create up to 20% of our planet’s atmospheric oxygen. They are a vital link in the aquatic food chain and are responsible for producing about 25 % of the planet's organic material.

These images feature the exoskeletons that Diatoms leave behind. They are made of silica. I love the sleek architectural designs. All the more amazing is that they are only a few microns in size.

The images are originally grayscale because SEM imaging represents variations in electron intensity, not colour. I have colourised them to abstract further the eerie, other-worldly nature of these tiny landscapes in order to immerse us in the microscopic aquatic world of the diatom.

Tim is an award-winning fine art and advertising photographer who has worked with many global brands throughout his career. He has always been driven by his personal work, which he releases as limited edition fine art prints. In his diverse personal practice, which includes animal photography and abstract floral art, he likes to explore small details that we don’t normally notice, and make heroes of them. Opening up a new way for us to appreciate them magnified at scale as prints. He says: “The closer you get, the more you see. And the more abstract the image becomes. This prompts a uniquely subjective response in the viewer, working at a subliminal level that is more to do with the heart than the head.”