A Child Is Born – one of the world’s best-selling photography books.

In the book, we follow expectant parents in their everyday lives while also gaining insight into the development of the fetus over nine months of pregnancy. Everything is illustrated with Lennart Nilsson’s unique photographs.

Fetus, 12-13 weeks. Ett barn blir till 1990. ©Lennart Nilsson/SPL

These photographs are clearly of a time, but like great art they possess timelessness. They have their own pulse, one of profound discovery, for, of course, Lennart is more than a photojournalist, and this is much more than a simple story.

Mark Holborn, from Ett barn blir till 2018

Ett barn blir till 2018 (A Child is Born 2020) Ett barn blir till 2018 (A Child is Born 2020)

In September 2018, the year after Lennart Nilsson’s death, the sixth edition was released. Lennart Nilsson’s classic photographs are here combined with newly taken documentary photographs by Linda Forsell. The texts were written by Professor Lars Hamberger (1939–2021) and midwife Gudrun Abascal.

Reed more

Ett barn blir till 2003 (A Child is Born 2003) Ett barn blir till 2003 (A Child is Born 2003)

During the work on the TV documentary The Miracle of Love (2000), the idea of another edition emerged.

Reed more

Ett barn blir till 2009 (A Child is Born 2009) Ett barn blir till 2009 (A Child is Born 2009)

In this edition, it is primarily the classic photographs that are in focus.

Reed more

Ett barn blir till 1990 (A Child is Born 1990) Ett barn blir till 1990 (A Child is Born 1990)

In this revised version of the book, Lennart Nilsson used all the techniques he had developed over the years. Lars Hamberger, one of the members of the team behind Sweden’s first successful IVF baby, was a new author. The theme remained the same as in the earlier books, but developments in medicine and technology called for renewal.

Reed more

Ett barn blir till 1965 (A Child is Born 1966) Ett barn blir till 1965 (A Child is Born 1966)

The first edition was published in October 1965 by Albert Bonniers Förlag in Stockholm and was written by Axel Ingelman-Sundberg and Claes Wirsén. In retrospect, it has emerged that Axel’s wife, Mirjam Furuhjelm, also took part in the writing. A Child Is Born has influenced millions of people’s views on life and childbirth.

Reed more

Ett barn blir till 1976 (A Child is Born 1977) Ett barn blir till 1976 (A Child is Born 1977)

In the second updated edition, new documentary photographs and new images of fetal development, taken using an endoscope, were presented. Thanks to this new technology, Lennart Nilsson had been able to further develop his work documenting the inside of the human body.

Reed more

Lennart Nilsson mainly used macro lenses and light microscopy to show fetal development in the first edition of A Child Is Born in 1965.

Later (starting in the 1970s), he also used scanning electron microscopy and endoscopes with an extreme wide-angle lens.

Read the story behind the book

A Child Is Born – one of the world’s best-selling photography books.

These photographs are clearly of a time, but like great art they possess timelessness. They have their own pulse, one of profound discovery, for, of course, Lennart is more than a photojournalist, and this is much more than a simple story.

Relaterat

Vi bryr oss om din integritet