<p dir="ltr"><strong>It's a small world after all—at least in the world of photomicrography.</strong></p><p dir="ltr">Wim Van Egmond is one of Small World's most prolific photomicrographers and scored top honors with this detailed image of a diatom, using contrast to bring out the gymnastic rhythm of the bristles.</p><p dir="ltr">"I approach micrographs as if they are portraits," said Egmond. "The same way you look at a person and try to capture their personality, I observe an organism and try to capture it as honestly and realistically as possible."</p><p dir="ltr">On Wednesday, <a href="http://www.nikonsmallworld.com/">Nikon's Small World photo competition</a> announced the winners of a worldwide contest to find stunning photos of the world invisible to the naked eye. </p><p dir="ltr">"This competition brings together some of the top talent from around the world, from all walks of life and scientific disciplines," said Eric Flem, communications manager at Nikon Instruments.</p><p dir="ltr">Click through to see the gallery of selected images from the Top 20 and Honorable Mentions of the competition—no microscope necessary.</p><p dir="ltr"><em>-Tanya Basu</em></p>