Antarctic Art

Herbert Ponting is an extraordinary photographer who accompanied Captain Robert F. Scott on Scott's 1910 expedition to the South Pole.  His photographs of the Ice are classics. In the hut at Cape Evans, Antarctica, which I visited, is a small darkroom where he processed his photos.

Contemporary photographers have an easier time, technologically, but their photos are no less stunning.  The University of Wyoming and the National Science Foundation have assembled the work of seven artists, including Ponting.

The exhibit celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Antarctic Artists and Writers Program and is part of the global activities recognizing the 100th anniversary of the discovery and exploration of the Polar Regions. The first photographer to visit Antarctica under the NSF Antarctic Artists and Writers Program, Eliot Furness Porter (American, 1901-1990) is represented by works from the Art Museum's permanent collection. Four contemporary photographers and one sound artist, all of whom have worked in Antarctica over the last 20 years under the same NSF program and who complete the exhibition are Stuart Klipper, Neelon Crawford, Jody Forster, Joan Myers, and Douglas Quin.  Check out the images on the University of Wyoming website.