Journalism, Photography and The Birth Of A New Life

Journalism has been the field of collecting and distributing news and information through various form of media dependent upon the time period. Earliest forms have been print publishing which is still omnipresent despite of the rise in other forms of media attributing to the advancements in technology. The first published media was in the first half of the 17th century, of the print type, and is  recognized as the first newspaper. Then onward, it has evolved from the radio to the television to the now supreme internet.

Journalism and Origin of Photojournalism

There are several forms of journalism, ranging from the most common, propaganda like broadcast journalism to the more authentic investigative journalism, then the controversial yet potent, drone journalism (from uses in real time warfare to more practical news and compelling investigative news journalism/information capture) and the more story telling oriented photojournalism. 

Photojournalism is a form of news journalism that relies on photos to narrate the news, or disseminate the information through visual portrayal of the scenario. Illustrating news stories through photography started in the early 19th century, with the works of journalist Adolphe Smith, in his monthly magazine, Street Life in London(1876-1877), which documented the lives of street people in London, through text and photographs. Later, documenting the effects of war through photos served as the foundation for modern photojournalism.

During the Crimean War, the ILN pioneered the birth of early photojournalism by printing pictures of the war that had been taken by Roger Fenton. Fenton was the first official war photographer and his work documenting the effects of the war on the troops, laid the groundwork for modern photojournalism.

– Wikipedia 

Photography – The Scientific Perspective
Macro Photography is the use of a camera to capture extremely close up shots detailing the extremely small objects by magnifying them into larger-than-life size. Essentially, it is nothing but, reproducing the subject into a blown up version of their real self. 

Lennart Nilsson is a Swedish photographer known for his extreme macro photography. Renowned for his high-fidelity in vivo (inside living organisms) shots of human and other medical subjects, his work details the human birth cycle, from the sperm entering the egg to the final stages of the fully formed human infant.  There are other works detailing such processes, but most are based on the scans such as ultrasound and other imaging technologies. Lennart Nilsson’s first book was published in 1965, which contains photographs that are live optical photos captured through endoscopy, which is otherwise used as a medical method for examining, diagnosing and treating the innards of the body. 

The latest edition of the book features over 350 new photographs, pictures of the womb, the fertilization process towards the final delivery and every step along the way with detailed photos and special instructions by doctors, describing the process as well as shedding light on the essential prenatal care.

A Sneak Peak
 1) Sperm entering the Fallopian tube

2) Battle of the fittest

3) Winning Sperm Entering the Egg/Ovum

4) Human Embryo is attached to a wall of the uterus

5) Brain developing in the embryo
6) The face taking form with holes for eyes,nostrils and mouth

7) Embryo inside the fetal sac
8) The almost formed body of the fetus

9) The bone development and the network of blood vessels

10) Few weeks before the child enters the world

Not only is this work an unprecedented mixture of art, science and medicine, but a must have reference guide for the whole family.  

Lennart Nilsson’s official website.

2009 edition of this book – A Child is Born

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Sources & References

• Odd Stuff Magazine
• Wikipedia