Swedish master medical photographer Lennart Nilsson is a pioneer
in medical photography.In
association with researchers and with the help of advanced, specially designed
equipment, he has documented the inside of man down to the level of a cell with
his camera.
Born in Strängnäs, a satellite city of
Stockholm, in 1922, Nilsson got his first camera from his father when he was 11
years old.From the
early stage, he has been interested in looking at ants and taking photos of
them.Throughout the years, he has devoted special attention to capturing the
creation of a human being, from conception to birth.
In 2006 when his photo book Life was
published in both Swedish and English, he was invited to give a lecture at the
Stockholm bookstore.He vividly
described to the public how he took the photos so that the development process
of the embryo can be understood better.Finally when he was signing his name in the book, I asked him what
made him so passionate about working on this, he stopped writing and thought
for a second, “I think it is the respect for life,” Nilsson said.
Nilsson began his career as a
photographic journalist in the middle of the 1940s and published a number of
photo-essays in Swedish and foreign magazines, including "Polar Bear
Hunting in Spitzbergen" (1947) and Midwife.
“When I went to the professor to
take the embryo photo, I was looking around and then I saw something which was
unbelievable, it was a tiny human embryo lies in a very special place, a 10-20
millimeter embryo with hands, arms and eyes, and I got a shock,” Nilsson said.
Nilsson began experimenting with new
photographic techniques in the mid-1950s to report on the world of ants and
life in the sea.His
revealing macro-studies were published in his book on ants, Myror (1959), and
in the Life in the Sea (1959), and in Close to Nature (1984).In the 1960s special designed, very slim
endoscopes (内窥镜))made it
possible for him to photograph the blood vessels and the cavities (空洞) of the body with the necessary depth
of field and, in 1970, he used a scanning electron microscope for the first
time, he was also considered the pioneer for three dimension digital pictures
of the body organs.
After his photographs of human embryo
were published, he was encouraged to continue photographing the origins of
human being.
Nilsson is very modest and sincere.At age of nearly 88, he is still
cooperating with colleagues in Karolinska Institute where the Nobel Prize in
Physiology or Medicine is selected every year.
“He can forget all the other things when
he is working and he is still working diligently,” Mrs Nilsson told People’s
Daily Online.
1.Why does Nilsson want to document the creation of a human being?
A.Because he is a pioneer in medical
photography.
B.Because he has been interested in taking
photos.
C.Because he thinks it a way to show respect for life.
D.Because he wished to win a Nobel Prize.
2.What can we learn from the passage?
A.Nilsson was the only expert in medical photography.
B.Nilsson’s camera is specially designed.
C.Nilsson’s photo book Life is better received than his other books.
D.Nilsson has always been working alone.
3.How many books written by Nilsson are mentioned in this passage?
A.3. B.4. C.5. D.6.
4.Which of the following word can Not be used to describe Nilsson?
A.Passionate. B.Devoted. C.Forgetful. D.Dillgent.
5.What can be the title for the passage?
A.Nilsson, a pioneer medical photographer.
B.Nilsson, a pioneer medical publisher
C.Nilsson, a person of rich experience
D.Nilsson, a talented photographer