Now celebrating its 40th year, Nikon Small World is widely regarded as the leading forum to recognize proficiency and photographic excellence of photography taken under the microscope. To select the winners, competition judges analyzed entries from all over the world covering subjects ranging from chemical compounds to up-close-and-personal looks at biological specimens. The 2014 winners will be revealed on October 30th. In 2014, the competition received over 1,200 entries from more than 79 countries around the world. (Photo by Dr. Igor Robert Siwanowicz/Nikon Small World 2014)

Mia Sanford, graduating from Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School, takes a selfie picture with friends before participating in a parade of vehicles celebrating the graduating 2020 High School seniors on May 14, 2020 in Aventura, Florida. The graduating seniors were cheered on as they drove through the city escorted by the Aventura Police Department, students and parents. The unorthodox graduation ceremony was created as a way to safely celebrate during the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Seven-year-old Mimi Meade winces from the sting as Dr. Richard Mulvaney inoculates her April 26, 1954 in McClean, Va., with the new Salk polio vaccine. Mrs. John Lucas, a registered nurse, holds Mimi's arm steady as she gets one of the first injections of the countrywide test. (Photo by Harvey Georges/AP Photo)

The “voodoo” wrestler known as Panthère utters incantations above the alter of his shrine in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, on July 27, 2023. In the capital of DR Congo, dozens of men and women – including former wrestlers – practice “voodoo wrestling”, using traditional fetishes and animals. Fights are organised in some of the city's poorest and most densely populated districts. (Photo by Alexis Huguet/AFP Photo)

“Photocillin is the pseudonym of Dr Andy Teo, physician and people photographer based in the Surrey/Hampshire borders near London in the UK. My style is about showing the beauty of people and the world in which they live in a retro-utopian way”. – Andy Teo. Photo: “Walking six feet tall”. (Photo by Photocillin)

A death mask thought to be that of English dramatist William Shakespeare (1566–1616). Found by Dr. Ludwig Becker in Mainz in 1849, the mask was linked to Shakespeare because of its 1616 date and its supposed facial resemblance to the writer. A rival theory, however, maintains that the mask is more likely to be that of English poet Ben Johnson. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images). Circa 1900

The photographs feature fish that have been specially treated to make the stained skeletal tissues visible through the skin and flesh. The technique, developed by Dr. Adam Summers, uses dyes, hydrogen peroxide, a digestive enzyme and glycerin to make the flesh seem to disappear. Photo: This image of the butterfly ray (Gymnura crebripunctata) helped scientists study the joints in its wings. (Photo by Adam Summers)

Conjoined twins Angelica (C) and Angelina Sabuco (L) play with child life specialist Allison Brooks during a press conference at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford on October 31, 2011 in Palo Alto, California. Two year-old conjoined twins Angelica and Angelina Subaco who are connected at the chest and abdomen are preparing for separation surgery by Dr. Gary Hartman. The surgery will last between 6 and 8 hours that is followed by three hours of reconstructive surgery for each girl. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)