For Barbara Danowski, it is a small world
after all, and a beautiful one at that.
Danowski, an assistant professor of
biology, spends much of her research observing and
photographing activity at the cellular level. Recently,
she won international accolades by taking the grand prize
in the twenty-third Nikon International Small World
Photography Competition, which recognizes excellence in
the field of photomicrography, or pictures taken with a
light microscope.
The colorful winning photograph shows
mouse fibroblasts magnified 160 times (see the photo on
the front cover). Fibroblasts are cells that produce
connective tissues in the body.
Danowski started using photomicrography
in graduate school at the University of North Carolina,
and she has relied on photography to document what she
sees under the microscope ever since. To examine how
cells move and their responses to different treatments,
she uses immunofluorescence to highlight cell proteins.
She describes this rare photographic process like this:
“Cells are fixed and then react
with antibodies to specific proteins within the cells.
The antibodies themselves have a fluorescent 'dye' or
molecule attached to them, which then 'glows in the dark'
when placed under light having the appropriate
wavelength. This allows me to see where those particular
proteins are inside the cell.”
The resulting photographs are colorful
and dramatic fireworks of green, orange, yellow, and red.
“But they're actually prettier through the
microscope,” she says.
Danowski usually photographs in black
and white because she can read more data this way, but
occasionally uses color photos, especially for
presentations and lectures. In fact, it was only because
she was making a presentation to an undergraduate biology
club that Danowski took her winning photo in color.
“I thought I would get some pretty pictures for my
talk,” she says.
The photos she takes are primarily for
her research, not for their beauty, she says. “I
didn't make these pictures just for the purpose of
entering the contest, even though much of cell biology is
beautiful,” she says. “They are an important
part of my research.”
In fact, in the past Danowski was
hesitant to enter the contest at all. “I had known
of the contest's existence for years and years,” she
says. “I just never thought of submitting anything.
Part of me said that I am a scientist, I don't enter
contests.” But research assistants Kenny Lee '95 and
Angel Caraballo '95 finally convinced her to enter in
1995; the photograph, taken by Danowski and Lee, won
honorable mention.
Danowski decided to enter the contest
again, since she already had some color photographs from
her various lectures and presentations. “I was
completely flabbergasted that I won first prize,”
she says. “I was only hoping to be in the top
twenty.”
As this year's grand winner, Danowski
had the choice of $4,000 in Nikon equipment or a
vacation. She chose the latter and plans to travel to
Scotland this summer. Her work also will be featured in a
calendar (her photo is February) and in a traveling
exhibition, which is to be at the Nott Memorial this
summer. Other stops in the thirteen-city tour include
Atlanta, Nashville, Phoenix, and Cleveland.
