It is not John Carpenter but the "

carpenter ant

": the microscope image you see above, disturbing and scary as if it were taken from a horror film or a science fiction story, illustrates the face of a

camponotus

ant (carpenter) .

With this shot

Eugenijus Kavaliauskas

, Lithuanian nature photographer, won a special mention (in the

Images of Distinction category) of the

Nikon Small World 2022

award

, a photographic

contest

for decades specialized in showing the wonders - sometimes even terrifying - of the world of the infinitely small , from bacteria to microorganisms.

If we could all really see, in life size, the features of what can only be seen under a microscope, we would probably be shocked and scared.

And this is perhaps the underlying idea behind the Nikon Small World 2022, which aims to make visible what is only apparently invisible, thanks to the wonders of macro magnifiers.

The shot of the "carpenter ant", which inspires fear because it vaguely recalls a monstrous face, complete with nostrils, vampire face and fiery eyes, has quickly become

viral

, shared by thousands of users on the net.

And it has stimulated, as often happens, irony and disenchantment, giving life to memes and goliardic reworkings.

As in these two cases:

Photographer Kavaliauskas specializes in bird photography.

In recent times he has instead decided to devote himself to insects.

In the town of Tauragè (in Lithuania), where he lives, he came across a colony of carpenter ants, found near his home.

This species digs or nests on tree trunks or in dead wood;

and just as Kavaliauskas was dedicated to examining one of these specimens, he gave life to the winning shot.

The image depicts what at first glance appears as a face, also thanks to the proportion of the compositional elements: the eyes, which seem haunted, and are actually the bases of the antennas, make it look very similar to a human face.

The shot, excluded from the competition for the main prize, is undoubtedly powerful and evocative,

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The Facebook profile photo of the photographer who took the shot