The Montilla City Council and the Montillana Association for the Dissemination and Promotion of Science (AMDIC) held the awards ceremony for the 5th 'Science in a Photo' Scientific Photography Contest. The competition received over a hundred entries from Spain, Portugal, and various countries in Latin America.
The first prize, with 700 euros, was awarded to the photograph ‘Frente al invasor’ (Facing the Invader), by Pepe Badía Marrero from Catalonia. The second prize, valued at 400 euros, went to ‘Vía Láctea’ (Milky Way), by photographer Francisco Javier Fernández Pedraza from La Rambla. The public's special mention, also with 400 euros, recognized the image ‘El Azimut del Gran Capitán’ (The Azimuth of the Great Captain), by Antonio Ruiz Espinosa from Montilla, for its citizen support.
The award ceremony took place at the Centro Cultural Alcalde Antonio Carpio, which also hosted the inauguration of an exhibition featuring 40 selected photographs and the presentation of the previous edition's catalog.
The Councilor for Culture, Sole Raya, emphasized that “science and art are not parallel paths, but different ways of approaching the world, understanding it, and above all, admiring it”. She noted that photography and scientific research share “the same impulse: to observe attentively, discover the invisible, and offer a new perspective on reality”.
Raya thanked AMDIC, the specialized jury, and the participating citizens. “We started unsure if the contest should be provincial, regional, or national, and five years later, we have a scientific photography competition receiving entries from different countries,” she stated.
The winning photograph, ‘Frente al invasor’, depicts the encounter between two small insects on a leaf – an invasive bug and a native spider – captured with great precision and compositional balance. The image focuses on an everyday natural scene to reveal small-scale competition, defense, and survival dynamics.
The second prize, ‘Vía Láctea’, captures a night panoramic view at Molino de Papel beach, integrating the rocky landscape profile with the intense trail of our galaxy. The photograph, a result of several long-exposure shots, combines technique and sensitivity to showcase the dimension of the night sky.
In this fifth edition, citizen voting registered 6,903 votes. The work ‘El Azimut del Gran Capitán’ received 2,381 votes, becoming the most supported photograph by the public. The image shows a precise alignment of the full moon over the Castle of Montilla, resulting from prior study of celestial mechanics applied to the urban landscape.
During the awards ceremony, the president of AMDIC, Pedro de la Torre, highlighted that the contest allows for the discovery of scientific processes present in both grand cosmic phenomena and the small details of nature. “A photograph captures the 'why' and allows us to pause at details that we might otherwise miss,” he explained.
De la Torre indicated that the submitted images combine “curiosity, creativity, dedication, and technical skill”, valuing the diversity of represented disciplines, from astronomy and microscopy to biology, motion, and light-related phenomena.
The decision for the main prizes was made by an independent jury composed of specialists in science, fine arts, and photography, including professors from the University of Granada and photography professionals.
