View of the TERRA NOVA through an ice grotto

Photographer Herbert Ponting (1870-1935)

Date8 January 1911

Object number00053959

NameSlide

MediumCellulose acetate slide, black and white

DimensionsOverall: 25 x 35 mm

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionA black and white image of the TERRA NOVA as viewed through the entrance of an ice grotto. The figures of geologist Thomas Griffith and meteorologist Charles Wright can be seen at the base. The image was taken by Herbert Ponting who was the official photographer on Scott's British Antarctic Expedition. This image was a particular favourite of Herbert Ponting's and Captain Scott writes that Ponting had been; "ravished today by a view of the ship seen from a big cave in an iceberg, and wished to get pictures of it. He succeeded in getting some splendid plates. This forenoon I went to the iceberg with him and agreed that I had rarely seen anything more beautiful than this cave. It is really a sort of crevasse in a tilted berg parallel to the original surface; the strata on either side had bent outwards; through the back the sky could be seen through a screen of beautifiul icicles - it looked a royal purple, whether by contrast with the blue of the cavern or whether from optical illusion I do not know. Through the larger entrance could be seen, also partly through icicles, the ship, the Western Mountains, and a lilac sky; a wonderfully beautiful picture." The image is numbered with a 24 on the lower left corner, possibly used by Charles Ford to illustrate his talks on Scott's British Antarctic Expedition on the TERRA NOVA. Ford’s interest in the personalities, events and the seals, penguins, birds and the natural environment is another lens through which to view those early expeditions and Antarctica today. History"One of Ponting's most famous photographs. In the first edition of Scott's Last Expedition the photograph was titled 'The arch berg from within', with a second photograph, 'The Arch berg from without, showing two figures at the entrance to the cave ', also included. For both his photographic exhibitions and The Great White South, Ponting used the caption 'A Grotto in an iceberg'. The Fine Art Society of London's exhibition catalogue notes that 'This unique study was made from the heart of an iceberg. The grotto was formed by a berg as it turned over, carrying a large floe up with it, which froze on to it, leaving this beautiful cavern, through which it was possible to walk for over a hundred feet. By good fortune, at the time the artist reached the spot, the TERRA NOVA could be seen in the distance. An hour later the berg had swung in a different direction on the rock on which it had landed." [Scott, Robert Falcon. Journals. Captain Scott's Last Expedition. Oxford University Press. 2008.] SignificanceConsidered 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.