Color photos of the Shackleton expedition

[n2doc]

Color Photographs of an Ill-Fated Antarctic Voyage in 1914

BY ERIK HAYDENMAR 26, 2011
In 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton assembled a crew for his ship, the Endurance, and attempted to cross the Antarctic continent by passing through the South Pole. He brought along with him a color photographer, Australian Frank Hurley, who documented the ambitious expedition even as it took a near-disastrous turn in 1915 when the ship became "inexorably trapped" in the ice shelf.

Hurley detailed the ship's plight at first with his color photography, and then with a black-and-white Vest Pocket camera. Their story is immortalized in the State Library of New South Wales, along with a Hurley's collection of color photographs. Those pictures were noted by NPR as "one of the earliest forms of color photography." Most of the Endurance's crew were eventually rescued in 1916.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2011/03/color-photographs-antarctica-1914/36103/

all the more incredible if you know the story of how they survived.

[hootinholler]

1. Ok, you made me google

From NOVA:

He and a few of his men would have to leave Antarctica's Elephant Island and summon help. It was the best hope for saving himself and the 27 other men stranded there. So on April 24, 1916, Shackleton, accompanied by Frank Worsley, Harry McNeish, Tom Crean, John Vincent, and Timothy McCarthy, set out on an 800-mile voyage through a stretch of ocean notorious for its extreme weather and raging seas. Seventeen days later, after enduring almost unceasing gales and even a hurricane, they landed their 22-foot boat, the James Caird, on the remote but inhabited island of South Georgia.

That they survived such a long voyage despite stormy weather and ferocious seas in a small boat is remarkable enough. That they successfully navigated to tiny South Georgia Island is a testament to the unparalleled navigating skills of Frank Worsley, who was able to take only four sightings during the voyage, and those on a boat pitching wildly on enormous seas. No wonder the voyage is considered one of the greatest ever completed.

That is an amazing feat.

-Hoot

[RT Atlanta]

4. The Third Man Factor

This voyage to South Georgia Island was studied in the book the Third Man Factor - if you're a fan of human endurance, I recommend reading this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Third-Man-Factor-Surviving-Impossible/dp/B004I1JQUC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301317593&sr=8-1

[drm604]

2. I saw the NOVA episode on this.

It's an amazing story.

[thelordofhell]

3. They also made a great mini-series about it

Shackleton

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0272839/