Shackleton Expedition photographs, 1914–1917
Shackleton
Expedition photographs, 1914–1917
James Francis Hurley
PXB 121
Black
and white photographic prints
In
1914, Ernest Henry Shackleton made his third trip to the Antarctic (the
Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition) on the ship 'Endurance', planning to cross
Antarctica via the South Pole. Early in 1915, 'Endurance' became trapped in the
ice, and ten months later sank. Shackleton's crew had already abandoned the
ship to live on the floating ice. In April 1916, they set off in three small
boats, eventually reaching Elephant Island.
Taking
five crew members, Shackleton went to find help. In a small boat, the six men
spent 16 days crossing 1,300 km of ocean to reach South Georgia and then
trekked across the island to a whaling station. The remaining men from the
'Endurance' were rescued in August 1916. Not one member of the expedition died.
Frank Hurley visited Antarctica six
times, from his first visit with the Australasian Antarctic Expedition 1911 to
the last in 1932 with the British, Australian, New Zealand, Antarctic Research
Expedition (BANZARE). Hurley was an exceptional photographer and his Antarctic
visits covered a substantial part of the heroic age of Antarctic exploration.
Ernest Henry Shackleton was born on 15
February 1874 in County Kildare, Ireland.
South, Shackleton's account of the
'Endurance' expedition, was published in 1919.
Over the last
half-century, as his story became the subject of more historical research, the
account of the Endurance and how Shackleton averted total disaster has elevated
his standing and made him a principal figure of the period known as the Heroic
Age of Antarctic Exploration.
James Francis Hurley was born at Glebe,
Sydney, in 1885 and became interested in photography as a young man.
Always a loner, Hurley nevertheless
influenced later generations of photographers, and his work - taken all over
the world over almost six decades - remains very much in the public eye.
Shackleton was an
Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer, best known for leading the 'Endurance'
expedition of 1914–16
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