The project analyzes the development of wildlife photography in Sweden ca 1890 - 1970. With the purpose of outlining the historical development of the today generally accepted representational code in Swedish wildlife photography, it focuses on three key moments in its history, when its methods and ideals were under negotiation. It utilizes archival studies, interviews, as well as text- and image analysis of the photographers' published work in books and magazines. The starting point of the image analysis is a performative understanding of the photograph, considering the image an act with effects on its surroundings, rather than a passive registration of whatever is happening in front of the lens. The tools for interpreting this act come from animal studies and men's studies. The representational code creates demands on the behavior of both animal and photographer, and these behaviors can be analyzed in order to gain a greater knowledge of both our understanding of animals and the identity of the photographer. Preliminary studies show that many of the characteristics and skills expected of the wildlife photographer were important also in modern society's conception of masculinity. Wildlife photography was in the period also an almost exclusively male preoccupation. The project could thus produce new knowledge in three areas insufficiently investigated in Sweden: the history of nature photography in general, 20th century masculinity and human/animal relations.