Humankind as photographer
An exhibition that showed part of what is included in our collections, from cameras and other photographic equipment to photographs dating from different periods. Displayed together, they shed light on photography’s various technological advances.
25 October 2017 – 19 August 2018
A little more than 175 years ago, photography began to spread around the world. Photography at this time required expensive and complicated technological equipment, and there were few users. Gradually, the art of photography became more and more accessible. Today, humans are a species of photographers and camera-ownership is almost universal.
Technology has always determined what it is possible to photograph, as well as how. Building upon the content of our own collections, the Museum of Science and Technology is bringing the development of photography in Sweden into focus – from the 1840s and into the modern age.
In addition to traditional portraits and amateur pictures, photography also comprises a number of other areas, where the camera has contributed to fields such as science, industry and other sectors of society.
This exhibition shows some of the technological stages of photography’s development and areas where the camera has been used as a tool. You can also take your own picture in an 1890s-style photographic studio, look inside the human body using an x-ray camera, and learn more about the tools used by the photographer Lennart Nilsson in order to explore the microscopic world.
Last updated 7 December 2021.