For the animals, they came from the University in Uppsala and all different kinds of clinics here.

About Lennart Nilsson

Lennart Nilssonwas a Swedish photographer noted for his photographs of human embryos and other medical subjects once considered unphotographable, and more generally for his extreme macro photography. He was also considered to be among Sweden’s first modern photojournalists.

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More quotes from Lennart Nilsson

I have many times thought I did the wrong thing, but the reason was not to be a medical doctor – it was just to have the information. But then, maybe I was wrong, I don’t know.

Lennart Nilsson

Swedish photographer

I have the instruments, ideas, technology, computer techniques. We try to create or see something, which has not been known before – just to discover something together. This is always my dream.

Lennart Nilsson

Swedish photographer

The chemistry of love is something which is extremely extremely unbelievable. This is something we have planned for more than two years, so I hope that we are going to start in the beginning of next year.

Lennart Nilsson

Swedish photographer

For the animals, they came from the University in Uppsala and all different kinds of clinics here.

Lennart Nilsson

Swedish photographer

I have some friends, colleagues here at the Karolinska Institute and even in the United States and many other countries too, because we are working together as scientists.

Lennart Nilsson

Swedish photographer

We sometimes freeze the specimen with liquid nitrogen, which is extremely cold, you know. This is another technique we use now – but the specimens are not alive.

Lennart Nilsson

Swedish photographer

That’s the new way – with computers, computers, computers. That’s the way we can have the cell survive and get some new information in high resolution. We started about five years ago and, today, I think we have reached the target.

Lennart Nilsson

Swedish photographer

There is a new way with very very tiny fiber optics, which give an enormous high resolution. There are many many thousand fibers, very very close together with a very small diameter.

Lennart Nilsson

Swedish photographer

It’s to surprise people about something that is extremely well known. I mean human reproduction, the human body, nature and so on. To surprise them with a new technique.

Lennart Nilsson

Swedish photographer

And my real enemy is not to hold the specimen sterile, but it’s the lighting. The light is our real enemy. So we have to work with very very poor lighting. But we can increase the light with computers.

Lennart Nilsson

Swedish photographer

And I remember that the editors wanted to have a witness to say that this was really the case, because it was a very sharp picture of the just the face, the head of the fetus inside the womb.

Lennart Nilsson

Swedish photographer

You know, of course, the specimens are not alive. We have to fix them in a fixing liquid formaldehyde and then we have to do a rinsing and then we have to coat them in a thin layer of gold.

Lennart Nilsson

Swedish photographer

Of course, today at the Karolinska Institute, I am working with some top experts – even some Nobel prize winners. They have the latest news and I have the technique.

Lennart Nilsson

Swedish photographer