Lennart Nilsson, captured the first photographs of unborn babies in their mothers womb.
In April 1965 LIFE magazine published “The Drama of Life before Birth“, with a dramatic cover photograph and 16 pages containing Nilsson’s photographs. The eight million copies produced sold out in a few days. Along with the moon landing and John F Kennedy’s assassination, this article is still among some of LIFE Magazine’s most important stories. “The most unbelievable thing we’ve ever published, with regard to astonishment and beauty.” (Ralph Graves, former managing editor, Life Magazine)
Lennart Nilsson 1965 book, “A Child is Born,” was one of the most successful photography albums ever, selling in the millions and becoming an iconic work for the anti-abortion movement.
Nilsson also published in October 1965 ‘A Child is Born‘. Using his photographic library, his intention was to provide expectant mothers with a practical guide addressed myths and common anxieties about pregnancy. He provided mothers with a photographic account of the growth of a unborn child in the mothers womb from conception to birth. The book became a huge success, especially among expectant mothers and connoisseurs of photography.
It received lots of praise by many, who described it as providing simple and accurate scientific explanations of the complicated processes that take place during human development. His 1965 book, “A Child is Born,” was one of the most successful photography albums ever, selling in the millions and becoming an iconic work for the anti-abortion movement.
He started as a freelance photographer in the 1940s but later experimented with photographic techniques to take extreme close-ups. By combining that with very thin endoscopes that became available in the mid-1960s, he was able to take the photos that made him famous.