Biofilm Create! Competition 2024: Winners Announced

We’re pleased to announce the winners of our 2024 Biofilm Create! Competition.

We launched our first competition in 2021 as part of our #BiofilmAware campaign, which works to raise awareness of NBIC and its research, and the many societal and economic impacts of biofilms. We are pleased to announce the winners below.

The competition had two categories: photography and art, and was a great opportunity for members of the public, budding artists and photographers to explore biofilms in their everyday environments and is also a chance for scientists to look at creative ways of showcasing their cutting-edge research.

Thank you very much for everyone who took part. The quality of the entries in both categories were outstanding. Amazon gift cards were awarded to first (£500), second (£250) and third place (£125) in both categories.

You can view all of the entries we received in our Biofilm Image Gallery and Biofilm Art Gallery.

Photography Category Winners

1st Place: Jontana Allkja from the University of Liverpool.

‘Biofilm River‘

Natural biofilms at Yellowstone National Park, formed over millions of years.

2nd Place: Amy Foo Guest from the University of Liverpool.

‘Connectivity and co-existence in mixed biofilm‘

This image shows two bacterial species peaceful co-existing and forming a complex biofilm community. The image has been false-coloured to represent the two different species.

3rd Place: Jennifer Dewing from the University of Southampton.

‘Biofilm Bubble Landscape 3‘

Macro image of bacteria and mould left to grow on cup of tea for several weeks. Biofilms are complex communities of microbes that are bound by an extracellular macromolecular matrix, which they produce themselves. Biofilms offer protection to the microorganisms embedded in them, enables sharing of nutrients and metabolites, and increases their resistance to environmental stress.

Art Category Winners

1st Place: Callum Highmore from the University of Southampton.

‘Biofilm Management’

Acrylic on canvas, 60cm x 60cm. A representation of the antibiotic apocalypse taken to a panicked extreme, with choking colour, a biofilm tidal wave, and a recalibration of scale between microbe and humanity.

2nd Place: Jonathan Biddulph.

‘Microbe Me’

A microbial self-portrait, created by overlaying a backlit photographic portrait (by Joel Peck) with an agar plate, which the artist inoculated with microbes swabbed from his own face and head with sterilised artist brushes and water.

3rd Place: Matthew Hendren from the University of Southampton.

‘Entropy’

Timelapses of medium-format film photographs, taken and developed by myself, then suspended in agar jelly before being inoculated with mould. As the moulds grow, they alter the dyes in the photographic prints, resulting in chromatic distortion. These clips are accompanied by an original musical composition, and are part of a larger series exploring the importance of decomposing organisms, the fragility of the human condition and the cyclical nature of existence, with death giving birth to new life. Individuals photographed (in order): Thomas Kral, Rhys Potter, Kai Groves and Joshua Lynch.

Judging Panel

Our diverse panel of 6 judges took part in an unbiased and anonymous judging process.

We sincerely thank the judging panel for their time and efforts in supporting our competition.

You can find out more about our panel here.

Chris Denning: Director of the University of Nottingham’s Biodiscovery Institute.

Paul Maguire: Freelance Photographer, with a background in Earth science and exploration.

Tim Self: Head of School of Life Sciences Imaging (SLIM) from the University of Nottingham.

Catriona Clark: Art student from the University of Edinburgh.

Joanna Verran: Emeritus Professor of Microbiology from Manchester Metropolitan University.

Neil Parry: R&D Programme Director, Biotechnology & Biosourcing, Unilever and Chair of the NBIC Non-Executive Board.