Photos from Nikon's “Small World Photomicrography Contest” Speak to the Unity of Life, Regardless of Species

This is one incredible project. So why am I posting on it? Seeing photos like this speaks to the unity of life, regardless of species. As you’ll see, this contest “…capture[s] some of the first moments inside the eggs of animals including starfish and butterflies.”

When you see photos like this, you cannot deny the commonality. For example, you’ll see the photo showing the bones of the feet of a developing frog. Just as with a developing human, you’ll see 5 fingers and very similar bones.

The question that immediately came to mind for me was why are certain species literally born to be tortured or live very cruel lives and then die? When developing, they are innocent and that innocence is beautiful. But, then it’s broken as they live out their lives. This to me was a sad realization of the beauty and ugliness of life. Of course, also the reality that this is all human-defined as it’s humans that cause such a lack of empathy to other species – speciesism.

The link to the actual project is http://www.nikonsmallworld.com/vote From here you can actually vote for your favorite.

Wired also did a very good summary of the project at http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/09/gallery-microphoto-embryos/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+wired/index+(Wired:+Index+3+(Top+Stories+2))&pid=128