In July 2025, Ophthalmology 360 kicked off the inaugural Clinical Photo Contest, inviting ophthalmologists globally to submit compelling images that capture the most challenging, innovative, or visually striking ophthalmic cases.
A panel of 3 ophthalmologist judges reviewed all submissions and selected the top 3 cases. In this video, one of the winners, Rinal Pandit, MBBS, MS, talks about her photo submission and why it is a compelling case.
Read the press release for more information on the top 3 winners of the contest.
Rinal Pandit, MBBS, MS:
I am Dr. Rinal Pandit. I am a specialist ophthalmologist and a glaucoma surgeon currently practicing at Lifecare Hospital, which is a part of Burjeel Holdings in Abu Dhabi, UAE. I hail from India and I have done my post-graduation training and fellowship training in glaucoma from India, one of the premier institutes called Sankara Nethralaya. In India, I have a work experience of around 8 long years into the field of glaucoma. In the middle part of this year, I have moved to the UAE to be a part of this organization.
So my specialization is glaucoma, apart from all the anterior segment diseases, which I cater to, and photography has been a very niche area of interest for me. The eye, it entirely has fascinated me since my early days of postgraduate training. I have always tried to capture various interesting things in the eye. I’ve tried to explore all sorts of ophthalmic imaging, and this is how the interest has evolved over a period of time.
Question:
You were one of the top 3 winners of the first Ophthalmology 360 Photo Contest. What were your initial thoughts when you found out you had placed?
Rinal Pandit, MBBS, MS:
First of all, a big thank you to the entire team for this acknowledgement. Of course, it feels amazing for my image being selected as one of the top 3 winners and getting a recognition from such a premier platform. It is really an amazing feeling for me and it pushes me more to further dive deep into the field of ophthalmic imaging and maybe will inspire me more in the future to keep taking a little time from the busy schedule and try and capture those beautiful things inside the eye.
Question:
What made you choose this photo for the contest?
Rinal Pandit, MBBS, MS:
The image that you see is of a subluxated lens in a young male who presented to us with Marfan syndrome. As we all know, lens subluxations are very, very common in Marfan syndrome. What really intrigued me about this particular image was how beautifully the lens is being suspended by a single zonule, which I have tried to capture using my smartphone. That was the main thing that intrigued me and interested me about this particular patient. It’s very rare to see the lens suspended by a single zonule, things like this we just read in the textbooks. Of course, lens subluxations are very common, especially in Asian countries like India, where we deal with a very huge patient load. This is not a very uncommon entity, but what makes this particular picture interesting, beautiful, and an award-winning image is that single zonule that has been beautifully captured by me. That’s all about the image.
Question:
What do you hope other ophthalmologists and eye care providers take away from your photo?
Rinal Pandit, MBBS, MS:
It’s just, as I said, it is rare, but the disease entirely is not that rare to find. It’s just a particular finding, some unique thing which you just see. A lot of people on and off see such things in their busy OPDs, but we rarely find time to take back a minute, sit there with the patient, have that patience to have the patient see in a particular direction and then image. The main key patients, if you are interested in photography, and if that is something that makes your work more fascinating, the only take-home message for all of them would be that you need to have patience with all your patients. Each single eye presents with millions of insightful things, but it’s just that what the mind knows is what the eye will see. Have patience, experiment. We have a lot of ophthalmic imaging modalities and the world of ophthalmic imaging is just growing bigger and better. For everyone who’s interested in this field, the potential is endless. The sky is the limit.
I’ve been lucky enough to be…My previous submissions have also been acknowledged and recognized at various ophthalmic imaging competitions. This is not one of the first images to be selected as the winner entry. But as I said, recognition and acknowledgement is a very important thing which pushes you to perform better, to spend more time towards your passion. It’s a passion, inherent passion apart from ophthalmology and glaucoma, of course, this is something that enlightens me and it just refreshes me.
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