SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY - FACT SHEET April 2007 Creating the right image Science Photo Library (SPL) is the world's leading provider of science photos, and holds a collection of more than 250,000 images. Over the past 25 years, SPL has built an unrivalled reputation in the field of technical photography and now includes a collection of images covering an extensive range of subjects from medical and health images to beauty shots, from flowers and animals to contemporary human lifestyle. Science Photo Library was found in 1981 by Michael Marten, who was one of the authors of Worlds Within Worlds, a book exploring different ways to observe the universe - from electron micrographs to images of earthrise taken from the Apollo spacecraft. When Marten started receiving requests for the beautiful images in the book, he had an idea of setting up Science Photo Library. Marten says: "Worlds was the first popular book in Britain to show the new range of scientific imagery that had been developed since the 1950s. At that time you couldn't get them from photo agencies, or indeed from any central source, you had to go to individual scientists and doctors who made the pictures." Today SPL has hundreds of contributors ranging from acclaimed commercial photographers and illustrators to scientists and medical specialists. Images are constantly updated to capture new developments, and hundreds of new pictures are uploaded to the website each week. Science Photo Library also has a features department, which produces new feature stories on the latest advancements in medicine, technology, science and many other topics. SPL has a broad range of customers from advertising and design agencies, to magazine, book and newspaper publishers, production companies, multimedia and web designers. SPL licenses images worldwide and has a network of agents in 40 countries for customers who need a local contact. It has always been the aim of Science Photo Library to demonstrate what science does in an accessible way, and to develop communications between scientists and the media. Marten says: "Scientific images weren't part of most people's visual vocabulary when SPL started. Nowadays they are used in ads, on newspaper front pages, in pop videos, almost everywhere." For more information contact Pirjo Savilahti, Marketing Executive, Science Photo Library, 327-329 Harrow Road, London W9 3RB. Tel: 020 7432 1100, Fax: 020 7286 8668, email: pirjo.savilahti@sciencephoto.com back to Press Releases