The DNRF Photo Competition 2020
The DNRF Photo Competition 2020
In 2018, the Danish National Research Foundation launched a photo competition with great success. Again this year, Danish scientists have competed for the first prizes. Below you can see this year’s winning pictures and find interviews with the researchers behind. You can also view some of the other fascinating photos submitted to this year’s competition.
Photos have the ability to uncover the world of science in a surprising and inviting way, by revealing its beauty and fascinating appeal. The DNRF would like to share with a broader audience how, each day, scientific discovery advances our knowledge of ourselves and the world we live in. We do this by telling the stories of scientific advances or discoveries with a photo as a visual entry point.
For the third year in a row, the foundation has launched a photo competition based on the potential of photography as documentation and communication of research.
Below, you can see the winning pictures and find links to interviews with the winners, who explain the fascinating research behind the pictures. You can also see a number of photos from this year’s competition.
Selection criteria:
- Degree to which the photo evokes emotions in the observer
- Degree to which the photo works as visual entry point to the story behind the specific research result
- Aesthetic quality of the photo
The panel
- Christine Buhl Andersen, Chair of the New Carlsberg Foundation
- Louise Wolthers, Research Manager/Curator at the Hasselblad Foundation
- Minik Rosing, Professor at GLOBE Institute, vice chair aof the DNRF board and board member at Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
First Prize: Young Turbot by Mads Christoffersen, Senior Consultant, DTU Aqua, Technical University of Denmark
The panel’s review: The small turbot inside the hand expresses a fundamental human care for our fellow creatures. Thus, the picture addresses an important topic at a time when the biological diversity of the earth is threatened. Therefore, it represents the underlying research project in both an empathic and
aesthetically engaged way.
Read the interview with Mads Christoffersen about the science behind the photo here
Second Prize: Skeletonized Mouse, Patricia Petersen, staff scientist, Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, University of Copenhagen
The Panel’s review: The picture of the skeletonized mouse is extremely well composed and has a fascinating richness of detail. The backbone and the circular tale simply catch the eye of the observer. The small mouse almost bites its own tail as an archetypal illustration of nature’s cycle.
Read the interview with Patricia Petersen about the science behind the photo here
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Third Prize: The Eye of an Anarctic Icefish, Henrik Lauridsen, Assistant Professor, Department of Clinical Medicine and Jesper Skovhus Thomsen, Associate Professor, Institute of Biomedicine, Aarhus University
Panelets bedømmelse:
The panel’s review: The scanned icefish eye creates a spatiality with a high degree of materiality and structure. The picture is at once decorative and full of scientific information. The shredded structures indicate the sensitivity of the eye and the red circle adds mystery to the picture.
Read the interview with Henrik Lauridsen about the science behind the photo here
Seven photos selected by the panel
The panel has also highlighted seven participating photos, which according to the panel, all to varying degrees impressed in relation to the competition’s criteria. See the selected pictures in the gallery below.
SEE THE PANEL'S SEVEN SELECTED PHOTOS IN THE GALLERY BELOW
Read more about this year’s DNRF Photo Competition in the Danish media: