The captain and photographer then smashed the remaining 400 plates to eliminate any temptation of taking them along, recognizing that the party's survival depended on meeting space and weight limitations. They are among 120 glass plates in total that Shackleton and Hurley chose to retrieve from the sinking ship. The color photographs were taken in 1915, the year the Endurance was crushed by Antarctic ice in the Weddell Sea. While the black-and-white images are well-known, a less familiar but equally stunning set of his color pictures was recently put online by the State Library of New South Wales in Sydney.

He was an acclaimed documentary and feature filmmaker.Frank Hurley was an Australian photographer and adventurer, most famous for his series of artful photographs documenting Shackleton's epic 'Endurance' expedition of 1914-17. In addition to his work in the Antarctic, he also produced many memorable images as an official photographer with the Australian forces during both World Wars.

Hurley's images convey the terrible situation in which the men found themselves, and have come to define the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration as it drew to a close.'įrank Hurley (1885-1962) was one of Australia's greatest photographic pioneers. Hurley later used the material to produce lantern slides for lectures and a documentary film, South, in 1919.īonhams Head of Books, Manuscripts and Photographs, Matthew Haley said: 'The fate of Endurance and the crew's astonishing and tortuous journey back against all the odds is rightly seen as a testament to the human spirit under extreme pressure. (One copy was presented to King George V immediately after Hurley returned to England). Of the 120 plates that were carried to safely, 79 were used to produce the carbon prints in the presentation album, only six other copies of which are known to exist.

(It could have been worse Mrs Chippy, the ship's cat had to be shot). With a long march ahead into an uncertain future, weight was at a premium and he was forced to destroy 400 plates to lessen the load. The unavoidable decision to abandon ship presented Hurley with an unenviable task. Hurley spent the last three days of the ship's life photographing the unfolding drama from every angle. It was hoped that seasonal weather changes would warm the sea sufficiently to allow the ship to float free, but before this could happen Endurance gradually and inexorably buckled under the pressure of the ice. After Endurance became immobilised in the frozen Weddell Sea, he photographed the daily life of the crew as they awaited developments. Consigned by a private owner in the UK, it is estimated at £30,000-40,000.įrank Hurley joined the Shackleton expedition as the official photographer in 1914, having gained experience with Douglas Mawson's 1911-14 Australasian Antarctic Expedition. A newly discovered rare presentation album of Hurley's Photographs of Scenes and Incidents in Connection with the Happenings to the Weddell Sea Party is offered at Bonhams Travel and Exploration Sale in London on Wednesday 26 February. The expedition's official photographer, Australian Frank Hurley, captured life on board the stricken vessel and the ship's final hours. The dramatic escape of the crew is the stuff of legend. Attempting to sail across the Weddell Sea, the expedition ship Endurance became trapped in pack ice, eventually disintegrating in October 1915. Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914-1917 is remembered for one of the great feats of human daring and valour.

Shackleton endurance photos