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Part of
Progress in Colour Studies: Cognition, language and beyond
Edited by Lindsay W. MacDonald, Carole P. Biggam and Galina V. Paramei
[Not in series 217] 2018
► pp. 441–461

Chapter 24
Mapping the Antarctic

Photography, colour and the scientific expedition in public exhibition

| University of Leeds, UK

Early 1900s Polar expeditions experimented with photography to supplement established modes of documentation, from the work of exploration to scientific study (zoology, geography, meteorology). In recognition of the economic and educational potential of visual records, R.F. Scott employed ‘camera artist’ Herbert G. Ponting for his 1910–13 South Pole expedition: the photographs, lantern slide lectures, film and watercolours were linked to science and formed the basis of public exhibitions. Ponting’s work predominantly consisted of black-and-white images from experiments with telephoto lenses, flashlight photography and cinematography, however, studies of colour exist. Autochromes, dyes and notes on the hues of refracted sunlight and artificial light link photography and colour to the temporality of the Antarctic and the vulnerability of perception.

Keywords: Antarctic, expedition, photography, exhibition, iceberg
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Polar expedition photography
  • 3.Colour and expedition photography
  • 4.Wilson’s notes on colour
  • 5.Expedition photography in public exhibition
  • 6.Cinema lectures: Still and moving images
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
Published online: 26 November 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/z.217.24wat
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