While a picture may speak a thousand words Sumitra Upham, the associate director of curatorial and public programs at the Wellcome Collection, thinks photography can do so much more than that. Photography gives viewers a window into humanity’s specific experiences and perspectives, and with the ubiquity cameras, the artform is very accessible.
This year, Upham will chair the Wellcome Photography Prize, a global competition for people of any skill level to submit images that capture a story about science and health in their lives. As the group celebrates the competition’s 30th anniversary, Upham reflected on the power of photography in science communication.
In this entry, researchers showed a false-colored scanning electron micrograph of an organoid, a tiny structure grown in the laboratory to replicate the lining of the uterus. Organoids allow researchers to study human tissues and biological processes in more realistic three-dimensional models. This organoid measures approximately 0.2 mm across.
Oliver Meckes and Nicole Ottawa, Eye of Science / Wellcome Photography Prize 2025
What is the goal of the Wellcome Photography Prize?
Today, the Prize celebrates visual storytelling in health and science from all around the world with the goal of connecting people to these topics and building hope around them. This is slightly different from the initial version of this award, which was still focused on recognizing photography that translated complex research but was more geared toward scientists. Since the competition relaunched as the Wellcome Photography Prize in 2019, it has been open to entries from anyone, anywhere and has put human-centered experiences at the heart of the competition. This new framing recognizes the importance of understanding how science impacts individuals and their communities and really focuses on connecting science and health technologies to these community needs.
Why is photography a good medium for science communication?
Benji Reid created this staged self-portrait after a particularly difficult period of depression, describing it as a love note to his daughter. Reid appears as a broken astronaut floating above the ground, but remains tethered to her, suggesting her presence keeps him connected to the real world. The photo captured Reid's personal experience with depression.
Benji Reid / Wellcome Photography Prize 2020
Photography can translate complex ideas into accessible stories, and the transparency of this medium can promote trust in science. This form of visual storytelling also connects people—sometimes in direct ways, sometimes in unexpected ways—to topics around health and science. It can provide a perspective on how an individual or a community experiences science and health or how these subjects impact them.
How will these entries be judged?
A really big component will be on the visual impact of the story told through the photograph. I’ll also be encouraging jurors to consider the creativity in the approach to telling the story and whether the photo is bringing a new or unexpected angle to a topic. Finally, we’ll be considering the technical aspects of the entries: how the use of the medium fits the storytelling goals and how well the photographer created and edited composition into its final form.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
