Meet the 2026 winner of Nikon's Small World photomicrography contest
Summary
Ole Bielfeldt, a 25-year-old photographer from Germany, won the 2026 Nikon Small World photomicrography contest with a close-up photo showing ink droplets from an inkjet printer on paper. He used a microscope and creative techniques to capture the fast-moving ink drops without expensive equipment or AI.Key Facts
- Ole Bielfeldt won the 2026 Nikon Small World contest among 1,802 entries from 69 countries.
- He became interested in photomicrography during the COVID-19 lockdown after finding an old microscope.
- Bielfeldt built a homemade adaptor to connect the microscope to a camera and taught himself the craft.
- To photograph the ink drops, he modified the printer so the paper moved while the printhead stayed still.
- He took the photo in a dark room with a flash to freeze the fast-moving ink droplets in mid-air.
- Bielfeldt does not use artificial intelligence in his images, relying instead on traditional photography methods.
- Nikon Small World is a long-running contest (since 1974) that celebrates the beauty seen through microscopes.
- The contest also includes a “Small World in Motion” category for videos made with microscopes.
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