100-Year-Old Box of Negatives Discovered by Conservators in Antarctica
100-Year-Old Box of Negatives Discovered by Conservators in Antarctica
DL Cade · Dec 27, 2013
Almost one hundred years after a group of explorers set out across the frozen landscape of Antarctica to set up supply depots for famed explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, a box of 22 never-before-seen exposed but unprocessed negatives taken by the group’s photographer has been unearthed in one of those shacks, preserved in a block of ice.
This incredible discovery was made by the Conservators of the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust who are working to restore an old exploration hut. The 22 cellulose nitrate negatives were, the Trust believes, left there by Shackleton’s Ross Sea Party, which became stranded on Ross Island when their ship blew out to sea during a blizzard.
As you can imagine, the negatives weren’t in the best of shape when they were found, but a Wellington photography conservator took the time to painstakingly process and restore them until they revealed their secrets.
Here are a few more of those photos (you can see them all on the Trust’s website here):
More:
http://petapixel.com/2013/12/27/100-year-old-box-exposed-negatives-discovered-conservators-antarctica/
(It could clearly be my laptop, but I couldn't get to that website (Conservators of the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust) quickly, and gave up. It may be getting too much traffic for the moment.)
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Century-old photo negatives found in Antarctic explorer's hut
By Ralph Ellis, CNN
updated 11:46 AM EST, Sun December 29, 2013
(CNN) -- While a Russian-flagged vessel remains stuck in Antarctic ice, recently discovered photo negatives remind us this cold continent has been stopping explorers in their tracks for a century.
New Zealand's Antarctic Heritage Trust found the negatives in an expedition hut from Capt. Robert Falcon Scott's failed 1912 quest to become the first man to reach the South Pole.
The photos were taken during Ernest Shackleton's 1914-1917 Ross Sea Party, another failed exploration whose members were forced to live in Scott's hut after their ship blew out to sea.
The cellulose nitrate negatives were found clumped together in a small box in the darkroom of Herbert Ponting, Scott's expedition photographer, the trust said. The trust took the negatives to New Zealand, where they were separated to reveal 22 images.
Many images were damaged, but the trust says it was able to recognize landmarks around McMurdo Sound. It's unknown who took the photos.
More:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/28/world/antarctic-historic-photos/
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