Frozen in Time

I began writing this blog in the early days of March. I wanted to talk about Frank Hurley, the famous photographer who captured the images of the Endurance. A ship set out in October of 1914 on an ill-fated voyage to Antarctica.

Hurley captured hundreds of scenes on glass plates of the Shackleton expedition when their ship “The Endurance” became trapped in ice. In the later month of October - The endurance was crushed in the ice. Shackleton and Hurley selected 120 glass plates and set out on ice pans with 28 men who camped in what Hurley described as an icy life raft, before gathering the lifeboats and making sail to Elephant island and a subsequent two-year stay, as Sir Ernest Shackleton sailed 800 miles in 17 days to reach help. 

Now on this day - my birthday march 9th - The Endurance has been found, in its icy waters, explorers have discovered the ship well preserved.

Mr. Hurley used multiple images to create composite photographs - Photographs that told the story by superimposing two to three glass plates. He even created a darkroom out of the ships refrigerator. During the the First World War he did so again, to create a vivid record of the story of war, not just what could be captured in a moment.

Now in 2022, I’ve created my own composite from Mary’s Point, NB - where ships were constructed in the 1850s - some 65 years before The Endurance; yet this composite of mine speaks to the timeless nature of these relics - to the many who keep their secrets in the deep waters.

I will carry on - with the inspiration that was the explorer and war photographer Frank Hurley, I give you “Frozen in Time” I hope it inspires some of you; creating images of tales of the likes of the Shackleton Expedition, and in our own history as Canadians - the Franklin expedition. 

“Frozen In Time”