Photographer Lennart Nilsson’s archive to open for analysis and public entry

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03/26/2026 14:27

Photographer Lennart Nilsson’s archive to open for analysis and public entry

The University of Gothenburg has been funded 1.3 million SEK by the Hasselblad Foundation to take over the in depth archive of photographer Lennart Nilsson. The archive is considered one of Sweden’s most important photographic legacies and accommodates a life’s work that reworked how we perceive the human physique, science and the position of images in society.

The initiative signifies that Lennart Nilsson’s archive will likely be preserved long-term on the Gothenburg University Library and will likely be made accessible for analysis and the general public. At the identical time, the archive will likely be related to the internationally recognised analysis atmosphere in images developed by collaboration between HDK-Valand on the University of Gothenburg and the Hasselblad Foundation.

Lennart Nilsson is considered one of Sweden’s most influential photographers, not least by his distinctive and long-standing collaboration with medical analysis.

“Preserving his archive is not only about safeguarding an extraordinary life’s work. It is also about enabling a deeper understanding of a creative practice that spans several decades and helped bring scientific knowledge to a broad public,” says Niclas Östlind, Professor of Photography at HDK-Valand.

Lennart Nilsson’s most well-known work is the ebook A Child Is Born (1965), which depicts foetal improvement from conception to beginning. The ebook has been translated into greater than twenty languages and is without doubt one of the most generally distributed images books on the planet. The photos have additionally sparked necessary discussions about analysis ethics, views on gender and copy, and the position of images in scientific information manufacturing.

“His work, at the intersection of photography and medical research, has had a major impact on how images shape knowledge and societal understanding. Lennart Nilsson’s legacy is very close to our hearts, and we welcome that the archive will now be preserved and made accessible for research and the public,” says Kalle Sanner, Executive Director of the Hasselblad Foundation.

The archive, beforehand managed by Lennart Nilsson’s stepdaughter Anne Fjellström, accommodates a lot of negatives, slides, in addition to books, magazines and an in depth private archive together with correspondence, notes and paperwork. The materials spans from the Nineteen Forties till Nilsson’s dying in 2017, providing perception into each his working course of and the interval by which he was energetic.

The initiative additionally highlights the broader difficulty of how photographic heritage must be preserved.

“Photography plays a crucial role in our collective memory. Universities, more than many other societal actors, can contribute to advanced knowledge and deeper understanding in this area,” says Niclas Östlind.

In order to make the fabric searchable and accessible, it must be catalogued and tailored to the college library’s system – work that may now start. The purpose is for the archive to be accessible to researchers, college students and the general public by 2029.

Once the archive has been included into the college’s collections, the Gothenburg University Library will likely be answerable for its long-term administration.

“It is truly fantastic that, together with HDK-Valand and the Hasselblad Foundation, we have been able to bring this to fruition. In doing so, we are taking on a national responsibility for the photographic cultural heritage, closely connected to the education and research conducted at the university,” says Morgan Palmqvist, Library Director.

For press photographs contact Communications Officer:
Cecilia Köljing
Phone: +46 76–618 29 46
E-mai: [email protected]

Contact for scientific info:

Niclas Östlind, Professor of Photography, E-mail: [email protected], Phone: +46 73 507 50 71

More info:

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Criteria of this press launch:

Journalists
Art / design, Medicine
transregional, nationwide
Cooperation agreements
English