Swedish photographer Lennart Nilsson showed the world photographs of the origin of human life, from conception to birth.
The world heard about Lennart Nilsson back in 1965, when his photos were published on the pages of LIFE, which depicted a human embryo at all stages of its development. The photographs immediately spread across various publications.
Microscopes and cameras have been Nilsson's passion since childhood. Over time, ambitions formed into a profession to show the world the beauty of the birth of human life from the very beginning. He managed to take the first photographs of the fetus already in 1957, but their quality left much to be desired.
Nilsson managed to get the perfect shots using a medical tool for examining the bladder - a cystoscope, to which was attached a camera with a tiny light source. It was with the help of this device that photographs were taken recording the life of the embryo in the womb.
Nilsson created something truly miraculous: for the first time, people could see with their own eyes the conception and early development of human life.
Lennart Nilsson died on January 28, 2017 at the age of 95. Until the end of his days, he never ceased to be interested in science and photography.
The sperm moves down the fallopian tube towards the egg to fertilize it.
Photo of an egg.
Decisive moment.
Out of hundreds of millions of sperm, only one can fertilize an egg.
The genetic material is located in the head of the sperm.
After a week, the embryo begins its journey to the uterus to attach to its walls.
In another week, the embryo will attach to the wall of the uterus.
Embryo at 22 days gestation. The gray area becomes the child's brain.
By the 18th day, the fetus's heart begins to beat.
4 weeks after fertilization.
At five weeks, the fetus is 9 millimeters long. The photo shows a developing face, and the holes are the future nostrils, mouth and eyes.
6 weeks of development. The outer cells of the embryo join the free surface of the uterine wall, forming the placenta, through which the fetus receives all its nutrients. 8 weeks after conception.
8 weeks after conception.
10 weeks after conception. The eyelids are half open. In a few days they will be fully formed.
After 10 weeks, the embryo uses its arms to explore the world around it.
16 weeks after conception.
Blood vessels are visible through the skin.
18 weeks. The fetus can now hear sounds from the outside world.
19 weeks after conception.
20 weeks. The fruit is now 20 centimeters long.
24 weeks after conception.
6 months after conception.
36 weeks after conception. Within a month, the baby will be born.
