GIGO

Science Photography

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and so, one might argue, is science. We've had some interesting debates about this in the NZSM office in recent days during the judging of the Future Visions Science Photography Competition.

Part of the problem was the large proportion of excellent entries this year -- photographic quality and composition was very strong. So we looked hard at the science that was revealed in the shots and, in so doing, found quite a diverse range of opinions as to what demonstrated science and what didn't.

To me, one of the most interesting things was in seeing what other people thought appropriate for a science photography competition. I did have calls and emails from first-time entrants intrigued as to the nature of the images we wanted.

The Biological section presented relatively few problems (and the most entrants). Life has all the complexity of nature on its side, which translates well through the eye of the lens. In the Physical section, people tend to range more widely -- this year from the local beach to the South Pole in mid-winter -- to demonstrate the beauty of light and water, shadow and matter.

In my view, science is all around us, it just depends on the way in which you look at the world. Do you see, for example, just a wet cowshed, or the interplay of light and reflection, how polarisation makes a reflected image stronger than the actual object, an example of everyday technology, the implicit tranquillity of a place normally full of noise and life? Or (e), all of the above?

Does a "science" subject have to involve highly technical photography, such as the alien landscapes found in many scanning electron microphotographs? Or can it be something as simple as the refraction of sunlight through a stream of water from a garden hose?

In the end, we have to confess to a certain arbitrariness. Personal preferences and the eye of the beholder played a large role -- not something that happens in science, of course...

Vicki Hyde is the editor of New Zealand Science Monthly.