The Hidden Stories of the Linnaeus Herbarium

Photographer Lena Granefelt documents Linnaean herbarium sheets held by two institutions: the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm, and the Linnean Society of London. Through clever use of a backlight, Granefelt reveals previously hard-to-see details in these historic objects, including imperfections, watermarks, notes, enclosed seeds, and subtle changes in coloration.

Accompanying commentary is provided by Sverker Sörlin, a Swedish academic and historian of the history of ideas and the environment. Beautiful and beguiling, Granefelt’s work shines a “new light” (!!) on the specimen material that underpinned Linnaeus’s work.