Herbert Ponting’s Photos at the Chris Beetles

Over 60 photographs, taken from the legendary 1910 British Antarctic expedition, led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott.

This will be the largest and most varied exhibition of Ponting prints ever staged in London.

All are platinum prints, produced using the original negatives.

The British Antarctic Expedition, also called the Terra Nova Expedition, was Scott's second attempt to reach the South Pole, and has become infamous as a tragic, but heroic, story of polar exploration. Hired by Scott as the expedition's camera artist', Herbert Ponting was the first professional photographer to go to the Antarctic, and perfected the use of his large and cumbersome equipment in the most difficult of conditions.

Constituting one of the most compelling visual records in the history of exploration, Ponting's photographs provide us with a vivid account of the expedition. The images capture the men, their rations, their cold-weather clothing, and the very weight of their burdens while sledging. They also record both the exploration of Antarctica and the scientific investigations of the icy continent and adjacent ocean, emphasising the twin goals of the expedition.

Ponting's images remain some of the most beautiful and compelling photographs of the Antarctic ever taken.

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