Photographer Spike Walker - Wellcome Images

In the run up to the 2014 Wellcome Image Awards being announced in March, this Inspire talk will feature multi awarding-winning photographer Spike Walker.

Spike has won Wellcome Awards 24 times since 2002. During this time, he also gained 17 prizes and Honorable Mentions in international photomicrographic competitions as well as the Royal Photographic Society's Combined Royal Colleges Medal awarded in 2010.

Spike Walker's passion for microscopy started at the age of ten when he received his first microscope, a present from his father that (at £4.50) cost him more than his weekly wage. Two or three years later, Spike began to produce photomicrographs directly onto photographic printing paper, by using a 15-watt cooker bulb to project the image onto paper held in the lid of a small biscuit tin.

Spike took early retirement 21 years ago, having taught in schools and colleges after gaining a degree in zoology. This decision was intended to allow him to convert what had for years been a part-time obsession into a proper 'day job', although it was hardly an immediate success. Soon, his studio evolved from a few microscopes in the spare bedroom to a well-equipped laboratory in his garage that now houses more than 25 instruments.

Of digital imaging and how it has revolutionised photomicrographic technique, Spike declares: "This has given my work a new lease of life; I am now able to produce images I never would have dreamed possible only a few years ago."

The awards were established in 1997 to raise the profile of contemporary biomedical image collections and to recognise and celebrate image creators of the most informative, striking and technically excellent images among recent acquisitions to Wellcome Images. Images are largely contributed by research scientists but also photographers and illustrators working in the field. 

View some of Spike's images.

Inspire - a brand new series of inspirational lectures, discussions and talks on a wide range of themes. Hosted at the Sallis Benney Theatre, Grand Parade, Brighton, Inspire lectures are open to the public and free of charge.