Victor Hasselblad 1906 - 2006

March 8, 2006 marks the centenary of the birth of Victor Hasselblad, in Göteborg, Sweden. Hasselblad was the unusual combination of renowned industrialist and highly-educated ornithologist. His special interest in birds also impacted on his relationship with the world of business and industry, and it was this combination of a deep interest in nature and the ability to think creatively about technology that paved the way for his invention of a camera system that revolutionized photography

Victor Hasselblad lived to see photographers all over the world use his camera to take photos that became classics. These range from Philippe Halsman's celebrity portraits to Neil Leifer's award-winning sports photos, to Ansel Adams' suggestive landscapes and Lennart Nilsson's medical journalism from deep inside the human body. Still, the name of Hasselblad probably gained greatest renown by being associated with the photos of the earth as seen from above, and taken during US astronauts' voyages in outer space. Few photographs have been so widely reproduced as these.

Victor Hasselblad was a sociable man, and his intensive travels allowed him to build up an international network of contacts. His appearance as an old-world gentleman belied the curiosity under the surface about all kinds of contemporary developments. His home combined classical furniture with art works by Picasso and Giacometti.

By the age of twenty, he already had experience of working in the camera and optics industry in southern Germany and in a photography shop in Paris. Soon he made his way to Rochester, New York in the US, where he was employed at Kodak and a guest in the home of George Eastman, the man who moved film from plates to rolls. At the same time, his interest in birdwatching developed from a hobby to serious studies in ornithology. As a young man, his interest in the migratory routes of birds took him as far north as Abisko in Lappland and as far south as the Camargue in southern Frankrike. With his camera and his pen, he documented bird life in southern Sweden and along the Dutch coast. He wrote articles for anthologies and professional journals. 1935 saw both the publication of his book, Flyttfågelstråk (The Migratory Routes of Birds), by Bonniers publishing house, and his marriage to Erna Nathhorst in Stockholm. For most of every year, they lived on the island Råö, off the west coast of Sweden, near Kungsbacka. They also kept a flat at the top of the Hasselblad building, a familiar landmark in central Göteborg.

In 1937 Victor Hasselblad opened a photography shop at Kungsportsplatsen in Göteborg. In a large number of articles about nature, he had already described his theories regarding how a good camera ought to be constructed. This resulted, at the outbreak of World War II, in an inquiry to him from the Swedish Air Force as to whether he would be prepared to construct an air reconnaissance camera. He agreed, and completed the commission in record time.  His company continued to make military cameras throughout the War. They also made cameras for documentary photography and photo developing equipment. The company grew rapidly, in pace with their innovations.  Victor often reminded his employees that his dream was to produce a camera for civilian use, with maximum flexibility, interchangeable components, and small enough to be hand-held. After the War, when the military commissions declined, the company drew up a prototype for this civilian camera.

By 1948, the Hasselblad camera was ready to launch on the market. It was presented at a press conference in New York, and was an instant success. Its bold design and innovative solutions won it a great deal of public attention. The modular construction of the camera made it easy to produce further developments. Although the inner workings of the Hasselblad camera have changed radically since that first presentation, even a contemporary digital camera can be readily identified as a Hasselblad, by its external appearance.

Victor Hasselblad, far from being an anonymous corporate executive, was personally acquainted with many of the great photographers. He was also a pioneer of nature photography in Sweden and his interest in ornithology remained a lifelong passion. In 1975 he had a one-man show in Oslo, with some sixty photographs taken during the previous five years.

As the years passed, Victor Hasselblad gained international renown. He was was awarded the degree of honorary Doctor of Technology at Chalmers University of Technology in Göteborg, and made an honorary citizen of the city known to be the birthplace of photography, Chalon-sur-Saone in France.

Although the Hasselblads' childlessness was a deep source of private grief, Victor Hasselblad left an enormous legacy to posterity, including the camera he invented and the Foundation to which the Hasselblads left their sizeable fortune. 

Victor Hasselblad passed away in Göteborg on August 5, 1978.

To mark the centenary, the Swedish publishing house Journal is publishing an anothology on Victor Hasselblad, edited by Sören Gunnarsson and entitled Victor Hasselblad, Mannen bakom kameran (Victor Hasselblad, the Man Behind the Camera).

Göteborg February 27, 2006

Hasselblad Foundation