10 Facts About Lennart Nilsson

Lennart Nilsson was 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.

Lennart Nilsson was considered to be among Sweden's first modern photojournalists.

Lennart Nilsson is generally credited with taking the first images of the human immunodeficiency virus, and in 2003, he took the first image of the SARS virus.

Lennart Nilsson was involved in the creation of documentaries, including: The Saga of Life ; The Miracle of Life ; Odyssey of Life and Life's Greatest Miracle.

Lennart Nilsson became a member of the Swedish Society of Medicine in 1969, received an honorary doctorate in medicine from Karolinska Institute in 1976, an Honorary Doctor of Philosophy from the Technische Universitat Braunschweig in Germany in 2002, and an Honorary Doctor of Philosophy from Linkoping University in Sweden in 2003.

Lennart Nilsson won the Swedish Academy Nordic Authors' Prize, the first Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography, the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences' Big Gold Medal in 1989, and in 2002 received the 12th presentation of the Swedish government's Illis quorum.

Lennart Nilsson's documentaries won Emmy awards in 1983 and 1996.

Lennart Nilsson was awarded the Royal Photographic Society's Progress medal in 1993 'in recognition of any invention, research, publication or other contribution which has resulted in an important advance in the scientific or technological development of photography.

Lennart Nilsson's work is on exhibit in many locations, including the British Museum in London, the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum, and the Modern Museum in Stockholm.

Since 1998, the Lennart Nilsson Award has been presented annually during the Karolinska Institute's installation ceremony.