Archive of Popperfoto images from the Terra Nova Expedition.

PONTING Herbert (1950.)

£12500.00 

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A SUBSTANTIAL COLLECTION OF RARELY SEEN IMAGES

131 silver gelatin contact prints measuring 90 by 125mm, pencil "A" numbers on verso. London, c.

An unusual selection of the images taken by official photographer Herbert Ponting on the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910-1913. This collection speaks of the commercial concerns of the expedition's photographic record, including a breadth of scenes from expedition life as well as much of the natural history of Antarctica, featuring a good number of Adelie and emperor penguin pictures (often with Ponting in frame), as well as whales and seals. There are two candid shots of Captain Scott on the deck of the Terra Nova, taken when it was stuck in the ice in December of 1910, alongside another particularly intimate moment from the same period of the crew at ease, sunbathing and reading, lying in a heap.

 

When he was employed by Scott, Herbert Ponting was already considered to be the greatest outdoor cameraman in the world, so it's no surprise that his photographs would display both an exemplary technical skill (especially photographing the high contrast land and seascapes) as well as a professionalism indicative of the careful thought put into the multiple and important uses these images would need to serve. Repeated takes of posed portraits for example, here seen together, give the sort of meticulous 'contact sheet' approach Ponting clearly used in order not to miss a shot. Interestingly, two particular examples of William Lashley show that Ponting was also not averse to a bit of post-production when it was called for, as in one version of the image, the motorised sleigh behind Lashley had been expurgated from the negative, presumably to give a clearer solo portrait. Other crew members posing in a similar way include Edgar Evans, Fred Hooper, Wilfred Bruce, Charles Wright, Patrick Kehoe and Apsley Cherry-Garrard. There are a decent number of self-portraits of Ponting, both in relaxed poses, and behind another camera photographing the ship. There are additional portraits of Drs Simpson and Wilson at work recording scientific observations, and the preparations of loading sledges for the Southern Party. The expedition's animal helpers are well documented too - there are a series of charming portraits of the dogs and several shots of the ill-fated ponies. 

 

The voyages of the Heroic Age relied heavily on advertising and media exposure to stimulate sponsorship in order to cover their significant expenses. As such, Ponting's photographs were not only composed with an eye to future publications, but also for press coverage and to fulfil 'product placement' agreements with expedition suppliers. Two of these brands are represented in this set: a happy explorer sits on clearly labelled packing cases in the ice, enjoying a can of Heinz baked beans with a spoon, and a curious penguin investigates two tins of Tate and Lyle Golden Syrup.

 

Herbert Ponting left the Antarctic continent in February 1912, and although other crew members had their own cameras to record the rest of the expedition, all of the images in this collection are from Ponting's authorship. In spite of the exceptional quality of the photographs and the public interest in the Antarctic at the time, the tragic fate that befell the Polar Party curtailed the planned lecture circuit with magic lantern slideshow, which would have generated much needed revenue for the photographer. As it stood, Ponting had agreed with Scott to only collect royalties on the images once the expedition debt had been paid, and following Scott's death Ponting became embroiled in a longstanding legal battle with his widow over her inherited rights to these royalties. Many of the photographs were published however, both in the official expedition narrative Scott's Last Expedition and Ponting's own account The Great White South. During Ponting's lifetime, his artistic prints were offered for sale by his gallery, the Fine Arts Society. Upon his death in 1935, the negatives and image rights were sold to cover his medical debts.

 

The purchaser was Paul Popper, Czech born photojournalist, magazine writer and editor, and the expedition archive served as a foundation collection for his new image library, established in the previous year under the name Popperfoto. The Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge acquired the rights and negatives for the Ponting collection in 2005 for £533,000, and a press release from 2007 announced the merge of Popperfoto with Getty Images. These prints we believe to have been struck from the negatives sometime in the 1950s. 

Stock Code: 228955

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