Sabbatsbergs sjukhus 1961

It had never been depicted like this before, not photographically. What we know, at best, about our embryonic stage comes partly from textbook illustrations and charts of bleached specimens — not to mention the preserved bodies in biology labs. These figures in alcohol, perhaps sitting on their shelves for fifty years, are what Lennart Nilsson wanted to replace with images of real life.

One important use of his photographs would be in sex education in schools. Educators who had seen samples of his fetal images expressed great enthusiasm about being able to use them as early as the first preparatory grade; the images were not in the least bit disturbing — unlike the histologist’s preserved specimens.

The key to achieving such vivid photographic results was that Lennart Nilsson, over an extended period, could work in close, trusted collaboration with leading embryologists in Stockholm and Lund, using his cameras and microscopes at the doctors’ workplaces where he had access to fresh material. The on-call schedule he had imposed on himself over the past year was so demanding that he dared not take on other assignments far from the hospitals. He was constantly ready to continue building on the series ‘The Human,’ his working title for this unique long-term project.

In the article, Bergengren explains that the fetuses were photographed outside the woman’s body in their natural environment, in a saline solution, and that the photography had to be completed within an hour.

(Kurt Bergengren “Den osedda människan”, Aftonbladet 3 April 1961, s 2)