Herbert Ponting: Scott's Antarctic Photographer and Pioneer Filmmaker
Born in Salisbury in 1870, Ponting was raised and educated in Carlisle, Preston and Southport. While working in a bank in Liverpool, Ponting bought his first Kodak compact camera. A decade later – after running a California fruit ranch and working in mining – he was a professional photographer, known for stereoviews of America, Japan and other parts of Asia and for illustrated magazine articles.
 
When Ponting returned to Britain in 1907, his Japanese and other photographs were exhibited and published widely. In 1909, while working on a memoir of Japan, he signed up for Scott’s Terra Nova expedition – two years later, he was back in London, working on thousands of photographs and film footage of the expedition.

In February 1913, the news broke that Scott and his South Pole companions had died. Overnight Ponting’s photographs became world famous. But in 1914, while Ponting was giving cinema-lectures on the expedition, war broke out. His offers to serve as a photographer or correspondent were declined, but in 1918 he and Ernest Shackleton joined a government-backed expedition to Spitsbergen. During the turbulent 1920s and 1930s Ponting wrote his memoir The Great White South, reworked his Antarctic films into full-length silent and ‘talkie’ versions and worked on cinematic inventions.
 
Anne Strathie’s new biography includes previously unpublished material and images, including on Ponting’s correspondence with photographic magnate George Eastman, his friendship with Shackleton’s photographer Frank Hurley, his late-life romance with singer Glae Carrodus and the establishment of his photographic and cinematic legacy.
 
"1138867242"
Herbert Ponting: Scott's Antarctic Photographer and Pioneer Filmmaker
Born in Salisbury in 1870, Ponting was raised and educated in Carlisle, Preston and Southport. While working in a bank in Liverpool, Ponting bought his first Kodak compact camera. A decade later – after running a California fruit ranch and working in mining – he was a professional photographer, known for stereoviews of America, Japan and other parts of Asia and for illustrated magazine articles.
 
When Ponting returned to Britain in 1907, his Japanese and other photographs were exhibited and published widely. In 1909, while working on a memoir of Japan, he signed up for Scott’s Terra Nova expedition – two years later, he was back in London, working on thousands of photographs and film footage of the expedition.

In February 1913, the news broke that Scott and his South Pole companions had died. Overnight Ponting’s photographs became world famous. But in 1914, while Ponting was giving cinema-lectures on the expedition, war broke out. His offers to serve as a photographer or correspondent were declined, but in 1918 he and Ernest Shackleton joined a government-backed expedition to Spitsbergen. During the turbulent 1920s and 1930s Ponting wrote his memoir The Great White South, reworked his Antarctic films into full-length silent and ‘talkie’ versions and worked on cinematic inventions.
 
Anne Strathie’s new biography includes previously unpublished material and images, including on Ponting’s correspondence with photographic magnate George Eastman, his friendship with Shackleton’s photographer Frank Hurley, his late-life romance with singer Glae Carrodus and the establishment of his photographic and cinematic legacy.
 
33.99 In Stock
Herbert Ponting: Scott's Antarctic Photographer and Pioneer Filmmaker

Herbert Ponting: Scott's Antarctic Photographer and Pioneer Filmmaker

by Anne Strathie
Herbert Ponting: Scott's Antarctic Photographer and Pioneer Filmmaker

Herbert Ponting: Scott's Antarctic Photographer and Pioneer Filmmaker

by Anne Strathie

Paperback

$33.99 
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Overview

Born in Salisbury in 1870, Ponting was raised and educated in Carlisle, Preston and Southport. While working in a bank in Liverpool, Ponting bought his first Kodak compact camera. A decade later – after running a California fruit ranch and working in mining – he was a professional photographer, known for stereoviews of America, Japan and other parts of Asia and for illustrated magazine articles.
 
When Ponting returned to Britain in 1907, his Japanese and other photographs were exhibited and published widely. In 1909, while working on a memoir of Japan, he signed up for Scott’s Terra Nova expedition – two years later, he was back in London, working on thousands of photographs and film footage of the expedition.

In February 1913, the news broke that Scott and his South Pole companions had died. Overnight Ponting’s photographs became world famous. But in 1914, while Ponting was giving cinema-lectures on the expedition, war broke out. His offers to serve as a photographer or correspondent were declined, but in 1918 he and Ernest Shackleton joined a government-backed expedition to Spitsbergen. During the turbulent 1920s and 1930s Ponting wrote his memoir The Great White South, reworked his Antarctic films into full-length silent and ‘talkie’ versions and worked on cinematic inventions.
 
Anne Strathie’s new biography includes previously unpublished material and images, including on Ponting’s correspondence with photographic magnate George Eastman, his friendship with Shackleton’s photographer Frank Hurley, his late-life romance with singer Glae Carrodus and the establishment of his photographic and cinematic legacy.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780750979016
Publisher: The History Press
Publication date: 11/01/2021
Pages: 272
Product dimensions: 6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

ANNE STRATHIE is the author of Birdie Bowers (THP, 2012) and From Ice Floes to Battlefields (THP, 2015). She has given over fifty talks, including at festivals, local history events and the Royal Geographical Society.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 9

Introduction 13

Prologue 15

1 From Cathedra] City to California 17

2 New Country, Wider Horizons 25

3 From San Francisco to Fuji-San 36

4 Family Man or Nomad Photographer? 45

5 Asian Adventures and Difficult Decisions 53

6 New Opportunities in the 'Old Country' 60

7 Memories of Japan, Antarctic Plans 67

8 Into the Great Unknown 75

9 From Midnight Sun to Darkness 85

10 Deep Winter and the Return of the Sun 94

11 Farewells, Final Films and Photographs 105

12 Return to Reality 116

13 A National Tragedy and Successful Cinema-lectures 125

14 The World at War; Ponting's Home Front 137

15 Arctic Missions and a Series of Losses 147

16 The Great White South and Ponting's Projects 157

17 The Great White Silence on the Silver Screen 166

18 Romance, Letters to Rochester and a Royal Presentation 176

19 Difficult Times 185

20 90° South and Final Acts 192

Epilogue 202

Appendix A Family, Terra Nova Expedition Personnel and Associates 209

Appendix B Herbert Ponting's photographic time-line and equipment 213

Appendix C Maps 216

Notes 219

Bibliography 260

Index 266

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