View from the maintop in the ice
Photographer
Herbert Ponting
(1870-1935)
Date1910-1913
Object number00034259
NamePhotograph
MediumSilver gelatin print
DimensionsSheet: 405 × 505 mm
Overall: 405 × 505 mm
Image: 298 × 405 mm
Mount / Matt size (C Fini Mount): 522 × 717 mm
Overall: 405 × 505 mm
Image: 298 × 405 mm
Mount / Matt size (C Fini Mount): 522 × 717 mm
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionThree crew members of the TERRA NOVA survey a landscape of sea ice from the maintop. This photograph was captured by Herbert Ponting, during Scott’s 1910-1913 expedition to Antarctica.
Ponting professed that one of the most exhilarating experiences from the expedition was watching the ship battle the dangerous ice floes. From a top the mast, the officer of the watch would ‘con’ the ship, looking for favourable openings in the ice. This information would be shouted to the helmsman on the poop deck.HistoryConsidered the pioneer of polar photography, Herbert Ponting was the first official photographer to accompany an Antarctic expedition. He documented the attempt by Captain Robert Falcon Scott to be the first to reach the South Pole.
Images of the TERRA NOVA ship and life for expedition members reveal for the first time Antarctic exploration to the rest of the world. Scott and his men did reach the South Pole on 18 January 1912 but Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian had beaten them to it less than a month earlier. The return journey for Scott’s team proved tragic as none of them survived the extreme conditions.
The collection of slides compiled by Charles Ford documents aspects of the technical and geographical mapping work, personal challenges, daily lives, social dynamics and the landmarks, icescapes, waterscapes and environments the men encountered.SignificanceAntarctica is a place where one mistake can make the difference between life and death. A continent of extremes: it is the highest, driest, windiest and coldest place on the planet. It has also produced some of the world’s most heroic explorers.
The early 20th century saw the most amazing Antarctic journeys with names like Scott, Shackleton, Amundsen and Mawson being forever linked with endurance, heroism and tragedy. The expeditions of Scott and Shackleton in particular remain among the most popular and remembered around the world. They epitomise the heroism associated with Antarctic adventure. The photography of Ponting poignantly captures the everyday and the surreal, the tragedy and the triumph.
