Magnified picture of an ant's face wins prize, leaves social media 'horrified'

The face of an ant is not something that most people have seen but it has become a center of a lot of attention thanks to a picture taken by Lithuanian photographer Eugenijus Kavaliauskas. The picture, which won a prestigious prize at a Nikon photography competition, introduced many people to a magnified image of an ant’s face which has left them both fascinated as well as “horrified”.

The wildlife photographer submitted the picture for the competition under the “microscopic photography” category. It showed the microscopic image of the face with the eyes and teeth of the ant being in special focus. It was one of the rare occasions when the subject was properly captured.

The picture was honoured as an “image of distinction” with a number of experts praising the “innovation” of the subject as well as the details captured by the photographer.

While the photograph received a lot of praise both from the experts as well as online, there were several people who were disturbed by the picture and even called it “horrifying”. The image became viral online within a few hours and the topic became the subject of fascination for the social media.

The top prize went to Grigorii Timin of the University of Geneva who submitted an image of the embryonic hand of a Madagascar gecko, according to a report on CNN.

"Masterfully blending imaging technology and artistic creativity, Timin utilized high-resolution microscopy and image-stitching to capture this species of Phelsuma grandis day gecko," Nikon said.