1998 Photo Contest, Science & Technology, 2nd prize
Photographer

Marc Steinmetz

+49 photo for Focus

01 January, 1997

German anatomist Professor Gunther von Hagens saws a frozen body into 3.5 millimeter slices. Von Hagens has developed a method of preserving human bodies or parts of them which he calls 'plastination'.

Initially designed to create detailed anatomical preparations for educational and medical purposes, the products of plastination are now also exhibited in highly controversial shows. At the private institute which he founded to be free from restrictions, it takes Von Hagens and his team up to 800 hours to prepare a whole body by replacing all water and fat with silicone or other polymers. The corpses are obtained through the institute's own body donation program.

About the photographer

Marc Steinmetz

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