The winning pictures from this year’s Wellcome Image Awards, which offer an up-close and personal look at the world of science, will be on show at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge from March 15-29.
The awards celebrate the best in science imaging talent and techniques, and this year marks the first time that the winning entries will be displayed outside London.
The images, which include a CT scan of a seal skull, a head louse egg attached to a strand of hair and an x-ray of a brown long-eared bat, showcase some of the wonders of the natural world in breathtaking detail.
The exhibition of the 18 winning images, to be held at the Ruskin Gallery on Anglia Ruskin’s Cambridge campus, includes the overall winner – an image of a mechanical heart pump inside the chest of a patient by Professor Anders Persson of Linkoping University in Sweden – which was announced at an awards ceremony last night.
BBC medical correspondent Fergus Walsh, who was a member of the judging panel, said: “As always, this year’s entries are both technically brilliant, and visually striking.
“Never before have I thought of a kidney stone or a nit as beautiful, but the Wellcome Image Awards show time and again that there can always be a different way of looking at things.”
Commenting on the overall winner, Mr Walsh added: “Anders Persson’s 3D image of a mechanical heart fitted inside a human chest is truly stunning. The juxtaposition of delicate human anatomy with the robust mechanical plumbing parts is dramatic, and the image is rendered so vividly in 3D that it appears to jump out at the viewer.”
The winning images will also be made available on the Wellcome Image Awards website and will go on show in a window display at the Wellcome Trust’s headquarters in London.
Catherine Draycott, head of Wellcome Images and a member of the judging panel said: “Every year, the Wellcome Image Awards bring to life the vibrancy of the world of science, as well as championing the incredible cutting-edge techniques in scientific imaging.
“This year, we are particularly delighted to be exhibiting the winners across the UK allowing many more people to come closer to these exceptional images.”
The exhibition at the Ruskin Gallery is free of charge to attend, and is being held to coincide with the Cambridge Science Festival.
The Ruskin Gallery is open from 10am-4.30pm Monday to Saturday, and until 8pm between March 17-20. There will also be a talk by the Wellcome Trust on Thursday, March 20, at 7pm.
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