High-definition digitisation of Frank Hurley's photographs from Sir Ernest Shackleton's Trans-Antarctic expedition has unlocked remarkable new details, including a previously hidden sixth crew member in a famous image.
The Endurance Expedition
Shackleton's 1914–17 expedition is considered one of the most heroic survival stories in exploration history. After the Endurance was crushed by ice in the Weddell Sea, the 28 expedition members undertook a 10-month trek over ice and sea until their rescue from Elephant Island.
The new scans of original glass-plate negatives, published in The Endurance Photographs by Riverside Press in collaboration with the Royal Geographical Society, showcase Hurley's work with unprecedented clarity.
Revealed Details
The digitisation of the negatives in 2015 unlocked details invisible in previous reproductions. In the image titled The Nightwatchman's Story, March 1915, a sixth crew member was revealed, hidden behind the smoke from the stove.
Hurley, an Antarctic veteran and official photographer on the Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1911–1913, often put himself in dangerous situations to achieve the best photographs, sometimes climbing to the extreme end of the top-gallant yard arm.
Life on the Ice
The photographs document daily life during the expedition, including the dogs' first run in over a month on 6 January 1915, and the building of igloos, or 'dogloos', from ice blocks and snow in February 1915.
To maintain spirits, the men set up impromptu football matches on the ice, with teams selected based on the two watches: 'Port' and 'Starboard'.
The Wreck and Rescue
In October 1915, the Endurance suffered a new wave of pressure, keeling her over 30 degrees to port. At 5pm on 21 November 1915, the Endurance sank beneath the ice. Hurley rescued the fragile glass-plate negatives he could carry but made the agonising decision to smash 400 others on the ice.
After a failed attempt to march 300 miles across the ice, Ocean Camp was set up on a thick, stable ice floe. Realising there was little chance of rescue from Elephant Island, Shackleton and five men departed on the James Caird, sailing 800 miles across the Southern Ocean to South Georgia.
Hurley's Legacy
Alexandra Shackleton said: 'Hurley was a superb photographer, not only for his vision but for his commitment. He would lie down in front of the moving ship and climb high in the mast, burdened with very heavy camera equipment. Results were all. Hurley regarded himself as primarily an artist rather than simply a recorder of events. He did not scruple on occasion to embellish his subject matter and to add or subtract details.'
