A beautiful photograph from the Heroic Age, showing three members of the crew of the Terra Nova, up high in the rigging of the ship, with the Antarctic pack ice stretching to the horizon and beyond.
Herbert Ponting (1871-1935) was “regarded as the best outdoor cameraman in the world” (ODNB) when he was invited in 1909 by Captain Robert Falcon Scott to join the crew of The British Antarctic Expedition. Always looking to push his command of the art form, ahead of their departure he took a crash course in moving picture photography, and was furnished with a cinematograph machine, specially adapted for the cold. His images remain some of the most iconic and enduring depictions of the era, and the in the aftermath of the tragic loss of Scott and the Polar Party, Ponting’s photographs from this expedition served as a memorial to these brave men.
This photograph was taken on December 22nd, 1910, and shows three of the crew members stationed as lookouts high in the rigging of the mainmast. They are Norwegian skier Tryggve Gran, geologist Griffith Taylor, and Canadian glaciologist Charles Wright. In order to get the shot from this unusual vantage point, Ponting had to scale the mizzenmast with his heavy camera, and must have been perched fairly precariously. The result well and truly pays off - the balance of the yard arms and furled sails against the line of the horizon, as well as the contrast of the chains and rigging on the white expanse of the pack ice make for a truly dramatic composition.
The photograph is titled on the verso in Ponting’s hand, as well as bearing his name and address in pencil, (44 Oxford Mansions, Oxford Circus, London. W1.) and the price of 21/-. There is a further exhibition label for the “New Zealand & South Seas International Expedition - 1925-1926 Dunedin”, and the name and address of the purchaser at that exhibition is given: J. Currie Esq., Edendale Road, Auckland. Under the direction of collector Ernest Marsh, this massive exposition was visited by over three million people. With a special focus on materials celebration the culture of the region, Ponting’s depictions of Antarctica would have been a natural inclusion.
