Winner of the 2014 TRIUMF Photowalk, awarded to Justin Lee for Bumped, a photograph of an instrument in need of repair after being knocked out of alignment accidentally, as explained in a polite, handwritten note. (Justin Lee)
Interactions Physics Photowalk
The 2018 Global Physics Photowalk
Winners have been announced!
This summer, leading particle physics laboratories around the globe opened their doors to photographers. Granted unique access, participating photographers snapped pictures of particle physics, behind the scenes and shared them with the world.
Photos were submitted to local Photowalk competitions and reviewed by a panel of judges. Winners of these local competitions moved on to the national Photowalk competition and winners were selected.
Participating Laboratories
CoEPP – Australia
Stawell Underground Lab
CERN – Switzerland/France
INFN – Italy
Frascati National Laboratories
Southern National Laboratories
Legnaro National Laboratories
Gran Sasso National Laboratories
Institute of High Energy Physics - China
STFC – UK
Daresbury Laboratory
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Chilbolton Observatory
UK Astronomy Technology Centre
Boulby Underground Laboratory
TRIUMF – Canada
SNOLAB – Canada
Brookhaven National Laboratory – USA
SURF – USA
Fermilab – USA
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab – USA
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory – USA
Previous Photowalks
Global Physics Photowalk: Behind the scenes at the world’s laboratories
While it may look different to different people, the quest of particle physics is global and unites us all
September 25–26, 2015
On September 25–26, hundreds of amateur and professional photographers had the rare opportunity to go behind the scenes at eight of the world's leading particle physics laboratories.
The Interactions Collaboration invited participating photographers to submit photos for local and global competitions. Each laboratory conducted local competitions and offered prizes to local winners. Furthermore, in the spirit of friendly competition, the top photos from each laboratory competed in two global competitions: a jury competition and a people's choice competition conducted via online vote. Global winners were featured in symmetry magazine, the CERN Courier, and as part of a travelling exhibit across laboratories in Asia, Europe and North America.
2015 participating laboratories included:
CERN, Geneva, Switzerland
(Friday, September 25, 2015)
DESY, Hamburg, Germany
(Saturday, September 26, 2015)
Fermilab, Chicago, USA
(Saturday, September 26, 2015)
INFN, Italy
(Friday, September 25, 2015)
KEK, Japan
(Saturday, September 26, 2015)
SLAC, California, USA
(Friday, September 25, 2015)
SUPL, Australia
(Friday, September 25, 2015)
TRIUMF, Vancouver, Canada
(Friday, September 25, 2015)
2015 Photowalk Nominees
Global Judges
Robert Bean is an artist, writer and curator living in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. He is a Professor at NSCAD University. Bean has edited books and published articles on photography, contemporary art and cultural history. He is a contributor to the Cineflux Research Group at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University and the Narratives in Space and Time art and mobility project. Bean was the Artist in Residence at the Canada Science and Technology Museum, Ottawa, in 2010. In 2014, Bean curated the exhibition “Stan Douglas Photographs” shown at the Ryerson Image Centre in conjunction with the Scotiabank Photography Award. Bean's artwork is in public and private collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, ZKM (Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie) Karlsruhe, Germany and the Donovan Collection, University of St. Michael’s College, Toronto.
Yael Fitzpatrick is the Design and Branding Manager at American Geophysical Union, the world's largest organization of Earth and space scientists based in Washington, DC. Fitzpatrick brings more than 25 years of design and management experience as a former Art Director and publications professional, including 18 years in scholarly publishing and communication, most recently at Science. Fitzpatrick has extensive experience with journals, magazines, and books in print and online, and expertise in content ranging from general daily news to highly technical academic research.
Dr. Joe Hanson is a biologist, science writer, and the creator and host of PBS Digital Studios’ science education series It’s Okay To Be Smart, which takes a fun-loving look at the world of science through the lens of pop culture, art, and comedy. Joe’s award-winning writing has been published in WIRED, Nautilus, ScientificAmerican.com, and It’s Okay To Be Smart has been nominated for IAWTV and Streamy Awards for excellence in online video. youtube.com/itsokaytobesmart and www.itsokaytobesmart.com.
Keibun Miyamoto is a photographer, film director, and novelist. Miyamoto was born in Saitama Prefecture Urawa, Japan, and attended the Nihon University - College of Art, and the New York School of Visual Arts. He worked in New York for several years and later returned to Japan. Miyamoto’s photography portfolio ranges from advertising clients, to magazines and editorials, to television and film. http://whiskystudio.net/
Jan Peters is a documentary filmmaker specializing in Super 8 from Berlin. Born in Hanover, he studied at the University of Fine Arts in Hamburg and co-founded Abbildungszentrum, the filmmakers' collective, in 1994. Peters is also a radio play author and video artist. He is particularly known for his playful and experimental use of accident and imperfection to emphasize the film as a medium as well as his exploration of the dynamic between narrator and audience. Peters masterfully interweaves a documentary style with unexpected elements such as satire, monologue performances, and forays into fiction, yet his oeuvre is constantly growing more diverse in style and content. Peters was awarded the Collide@CERN Geneva Award Winner in 2013.
The Laboratories
2015 Photowalk Jury Competition Winners
1st Place
Photographer: Katy Mackenzie
Laboratory: TRIUMF, Vancouver, Canada
The Main Control Room at TRIUMF. From this 780 square foot space - filled with over 40 monitors, 24 racks, dozens of knobs, lever wheels, switches, cables, jacks, meters - operators control TRIUMF's main cyclotron and proton beamlines. Don't be fooled by its analog appearance, this space enables Canada to engage in world class research.
2nd Place
Photographer: Mark Killmer
Laboratory: Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory (SUPL), Australia
Temporary Laboratory - 1025 Metres. Dr. Phillip Urquijo, Experimental Physicist, examining equipment.
3rd Place
Photographer: Robert Hradli
Laboratory: CERN, Geneva, Switzerland
“The Incredibles” shows an image of the knowledge transfer between the past, present and future, with a picture of a spontaneous photojournalist.
2015 Photowalk People's Choice Winners
1st Place
Photographer: Molly Patton
Laboratory: Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory (SUPL), Australia
"Lighting the way for dark matter detection and future particle physics research." –Molly Patton. This photo reveals electric mining drill deep within the Stawell Gold Mine, home of the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory (SUPL) in Australia.
2nd Place
Photographer: Pietromassimo Pasqui
Laboratory: INFN National Laboratory of Frascati, Italy
Picture of a vacuum chamber containing a mirror carrying the FLAME laser beam to the experimental room of the SPARC accelerator at the INFN National Laboratory of Frascati.
3rd Place
Photographer: Rosemary Wilson
Laboratory: DESY (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron), Hamburg, Germany
Detail of the forward radial wire chamber formed part of the H1 detector that took data at the HERA collider at DESY from 1992 to 2007. "This is an inherently beautiful image, strongly composed and skillfully photographed. It feels highly technical but also quite simply beautiful; an aesthetically pleasing image." – Yael Fitzpatric, Global Physics Photowalk Judge
2014 Photowalk
Although there was no international Photowalk competition in 2014, two laboratories, TRIUMF and STFC, invited photographers to take part in local competitions.
The jury-awarded first prize for the TRIUMF competition went to Justin Lee for Bumped, a photograph of an instrument in need of repair after being knocked out of alignment accidentally, as explained in a polite, handwritten note. All of the winning TRIUMF photos will be exhibited at Science World in 2015.
The TRIUMF Photowalk jury awarded first prize to Justin Lee for Bumped, a photograph of an instrument in need of repair after being knocked out of alignment accidentally, as explained in a polite, handwritten note. (Justin Lee)
The winner of the 2014 STFC Photowalk competition is John Willoughby, as judged by a national judging panel comprising of professional scientists and photographers. Willoughby's photographs shows the Polref instrument in ISIS’ Target Station 2, including some of the multitude of cables and pipes needed to operate the instrument. The winning STFC photos will be displayed at the laboratory.
The Polref instrument in ISIS’ Target Station 2 takes centre stage. The photographer captures some of the multitude of cables and pipes needed to operate the instrument. (STFC/John Willoughby)
2012 Photowalk
In its second photowalk, in 2012, the Interactions Collaboration invited participating photographers to submit photos for local and global competitions. Each laboratory conducted its own competition and selected local winners. In the spirit of friendly competition, the top photos from each laboratory competed in two global competitions: a jury competition and a people's choice competition conducted via online vote.
2012 Jury Competition Winners
1st Place
Photographer: Joseph Paul Boccio
Laboratory: Frascati National Laboratory
First place winner of the Jury Competition, showing detail of the KLOE detector at INFN's Frascati National Laboratory.
2nd Place
Photographer: Andy White
Laboratory: TRIUMF
Second place winner of the Jury Competition, showing TRIUMF's TIGRESS detector, an experiment that images the gamma rays emitted by exotic isotopes as they interact and decay. TIGRESS helps scientists understand the structure of nuclei.
3rd Place
Photographer: Helen Trist
Laboratory: Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Third place winner of the Jury Competition, showing STFC's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and titled "data symmetry."
2012 People's Choice Competition Winners
1st Place
Photographer: Nino Bruno
Laboratory: Gran Sasso National Laboratory
First place winner of the People's Choice Competition, showing a tunnel connecting the underground halls of INFN's Gran Sasso National Laboratory.
2nd Place
Photographer: Enrique Diaz
Laboratory: Brookhaven National Laboratory
Second place winner of the People's Choice Competition, showing a side view of the STAR detector at Brookhaven National Laboratory.
3rd Place
Photographer: Steve Zimic
Laboratory: Brookhaven National Laboratory
Third place winner of the People's Choice Competition, showing the inside of the RHIC tunnel, a 2.4-mile high-tech particle racetrack at Brookhaven National Laboratory.
2010 Photowalk
In its first photowalk, in 2010, the Interactions Collaboration invited participating photographers to submit photos for local and global competitions. Each laboratory conducted its own local competition and selected 20 winners. In the spirit of friendly competition, the top three photos from each laboratory competed in two global competitions: a jury competition and a people's choice competition conducted via online vote.
2010 Jury Competition Winners
1st Place
Photographer: Mikey Enriquez
Laboratory: TRIUMPH
This image of the 8Pi nuclear-physics experiment won first place in the global jury competition, and third place in TRIUMF's local competition. The muted black and white image of the 8Pi experiment's inner detectors captures the beauty and symmetry of physics.
2nd Place
Photographer: Hans-Peter Hildebrandt
Laboratory: DESY
This portrait of a wire chamber won first place in the people's choice global competition, second place in the global jury competition, and first place in DESY's local competition. This highly symmetrical image of a particle detector fascinated every member of the jury immediately. The rays leading from the centre, ending in a dark rim, separating the chamber's sectors, and large hole in the middle that allows a blurry view of the things behind, evoke the image of a large eye. The jury called it "technically flawless and simply fascinating."
3rd Place
Photographer: Heiko Roemisch
Laboratory: DESY
This image of two quadrupole magnets won third place in the global jury competition and second place in DESY's local competition. The global jury noted the photo's sense of humor, and the DESY jury's association with this image was "monstrous force." The image manages to combine seemingly contradictory things – there is no doubt that its subject is something technical, mechanic, scientific, but at the time the coils of the quadrupole magnets seem organic, like two greedy mouths. A well crafted visualisation of technical processes that captures the beholder's attention.
2010 People's Choice Competition Winners
1st Place
Photographer: Hans-Peter Hildebrandt
Laboratory: DESY
This portrait of a wire chamber won first place in the people's choice global competition, second place in the global jury competition, and first place in DESY's local competition. This highly symmetrical image of a particle detector fascinated every member of the jury immediately. The rays leading from the centre, ending in a dark rim, separating the chamber's sectors, and large hole in the middle that allows a blurry view of the things behind, evoke the image of a large eye. The jury called it "technically flawless and simply fascinating."
2nd Place
Photographer: Tony Reynes
Laboratory: Fermilab
This image of an accelerator operator on shift in Fermilab's Main Control Room captured second place in the people's choice global vote and third place in Fermilab's local competition. The Main Control Room is a mission control center where scientists monitor the laboratory's accelerator complex 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
3rd Place
Photographer: Matthias Teschke
Laboratory: DESY
This classic image of HERA's accelerator tunnel captured third place in the people's choice global vote, and third place in DESY's local competition. The photographer manages to guide the view around the corner and make the viewer curious about what's behind the bend. The image plays with light and shadow, conveys a sense of space, almost infinity, while at the same time incorporating technicality.