Sir Ernest Shackleton's trans-Antarctic expedition of 1914-1917 was one of the great feats of human endurance - one vividly captured in the powerful and dramatic pictures taken by Frank Hurley, the expedition's official photographer. An amazing body of photojournalism, these are also images of great artistry that capture the life-and-death drama that was played out against a frozen landscape of magnificent and terrible beauty.
In the summer of 1914, Shackleton and his crew set sail from England to claim the last great remaining prize of Antarctic exploration: to traverse the continent from one coast to the other, crossing the South Pole on the way. But the Endurance became trapped in pack ice and was finally crushed, leaving the crew stranded. After camping on ice floes for five months, Shackleton's men reached Elephant Island, a barren outcrop too remote to allow any hope of rescue. From there, Shackleton and five volunteers set out for South Georgia Island in an open lifeboat, miraculously reaching their destination after crossing 850 miles of the worst seas on earth. There they raised help, and after two thwarted attemots, Shackleton made it back to Elephant Island with a rescue ship. Every single one of his men survived.
Almost as incredible is the fact that so much of this saga was captured on film by Hurley, and that so many of these pictures survived. South with Endurance reproduces the best of Hurley's photographs, including many remarkable colour images that were never published before. The images are complemented by excerpts from his diary, a shapter on the expedition itself, a biographical essay, and commentary about Hurley's photographic equipment and techniques.
