With Scott to the Pole: The Terra Nova Expedition 1910-1913 FROM THE PUBLISHER
FOR CENTURIES, JOURNEYS INTO THE UNKNOWN by explorers, merchants, scientists such as Darwin on the Beagle , or hunters such as those on the polar whaling fleets, told terrifying tales and sketched imaginative drawings to depict what they had seen, often with a good deal of artistic license.
The Antarctic wandering of Captain James Cook in the 1750s and James Clark Ross in the 1830s were described in magazines and books with lurid illustrations of huge curling waves and towering icebergs, ever-poised above the tiny but heroic ships of the venturers.
This book confirms Ponting was one of the truly great photographers of the 20th century, especially considering the extremely demanding conditions under which he had to work in Antarctica. In the 197os, I worked as a photographer and cinematographer in Antarctica and even then, with vastly improved cameras, lenses, films, and ancillary gear, I still found the simplest photographic activity extremely demanding in the ultra-low temperatures.