NEWS RELEASE 6th October 2004 Winners highlight the marriage of art and science Two winning images by Science Photo Library photographers, in this year's Novartis and The Daily Telegraph Visions of Science Photographic Awards highlight how successfully an artistic approach can be applied to science. Above left: X-ray orchid ARTEMI KYRIACOU. Above right: Eyelash mites STEPHEN GSCHMEISSNER. Artemi Kyriacou's orchid flower uses X-ray photography, a traditionally scientific technique, but uses it to image a non-scientific subject. The end result is without doubt a perfect marriage of art and science. Steve Gschmeissner, one of the leading UK scanning electron microscopists, created his image of eyelash mites as much for aesthetic appeal as well as its scientific content. The scanning electron microscope produces images in black and white, so a lot of post-production work is done by him in Adobe Photoshop to colour the images using a naturalistic palette. According to Maria Storey, Sales and Marketing Director at the Science Photo Library, "Since their inception, the Visions of Science Awards have quickly become established as an important accolade for both photographers and scientists alike. The Awards present images of very diverse styles, genres and fields of photography and they really do help to broaden the public perception of science. This year the Awards again display some of the best technical scientific imagery around. But it is particularly gratifying to see that they are now attracting some top ranking photojournalism as well." SPL has supported the Novartis and The Daily Telegraph Visions of Science Photographic Awards for the last four years, both with prize money as well as advice. Each year SPL encourages its own photographers, who are some of the leading scientific image-makers in the UK, to enter the Awards. (To ensure there is no unfair bias, SPL does not take part in the judging). This year SPL photographers will receive two of the 1st prizes, one 2nd prize and several Highly Commendeds for their entries. However, it's not just about rewarding the existing photographers. SPL also supports the Awards to attract new photographers. Sandra Lousada, a judge on this year's panel and herself a professional photographer and ex-president of the Association of Photographers says: "This competition above all others is one for the imagination to run riot. It is made for experimenting and pushing the boundaries of the imagination to make images that will stop the public in their tracks and encourage them to learn more about what they are looking at." This year's extraordinary set of winning images covers a wide range of scientific disciplines - from medicine, to the science of metals, nanotechnology and natural history. An exhibition of the winning images opens at the Science Museum, London on 6 October. It will then tour the country and further details can be obtained from www.visions-of-science.co.uk. Editors' notes: The main sponsor is Novartis AG, a world leader in pharmaceuticals and consumer health www.novartis.com The Daily Telegraph is the media sponsor www.telegraph.co.uk Prize money in the five main categories is donated by the Science Photo Library www.sciencephoto.com. The Science Photo Library was founded in 1979 and is now the market leader for science imagery, operating on a global scale. SPL's success derives in part from its determination to provide the highest standards of representation to the photographers and illustrators whose imagery it markets, and a commitment to increasing awareness of science by making quality scientific imagery widely available. The Special Awards are sponsored by: Scientists at Work  NESTA www.nesta.org.uk Medicine and Life  British Medical Journal www.bmj.com Young Photographer Award  NESTA Learning Programme and Kodak Visions of Science judges this year include: Bob Bodman  Picture Editor, The Daily Telegraph Professor Raymond Clark  The Royal Photographic Society Tony Delamothe  Deputy Editor, British Medical Journal David Derbyshire  Science Correspondent, The Daily Telegraph (Chair) Adam Goff  Picture Editor, New Scientist Dr J J Harris  Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK Ltd Dr Adam Hart-Davis  Photographer and TV Science Presenter Sandra Lousada  Association of Photographers Dr Mark Lythgoe  Neurophysiologist, University College London Dr Simon Singh  Scientist, Broadcaster, NESTA Trustee For more information and images contact Reena Shah, Marketing Executive, Science Photo Library, 327-329 Harrow Road, London W9 3RB. Tel: 020 7432 1100, Fax: 020 7286 8668, reena.shah@sciencephoto.co.uk back to Press Releases