This viral image has left many in shock and wonderment about the mysteries of nature. Thanks to Eugenijus Kavaliauskas, a Lithuanian photographer, who shot this picture detailing an ant’s face.
According to CNN, the photo was submitted to Nikon’s Small World Photomicrography Competition, which seeks “recognize excellence in photography through the microscope.”
A couple days ago people flipped out on the horrifying face of an ant (left, the prize-winning photography of Eugenijus Kavaliauskas), but it’s mostly because the antennae look like eyes. The full ant face (right) isn’t nearly as horror-film worthy (at least I don’t think so) ? pic.twitter.com/v3FUAx6S99
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) October 22, 2022
Before photographing insects, Eugenijus Kavaliauskas used to photograph birds. Detailing his art process on his website, he used reflected light to capture the ant close-up. Its dark red eyes and fang-like whiskers around what may be its mouth give an angry expression.
Unfortunately, the 2022 contest’s first prize went to Swedish photographers Grigorii Timin and Michel Milinkovitch. They submitted a stunning fluorescent photograph of the front paw of a Madagascar giant day gecko’s embryo.
Now no one will ever look at an ant the same way again!