HURLEY’S PHOTOGRAPHS OF SHACKLETON’S EXPEDITION

Endurance

The night photograph of the ‘Endurance’, marooned in the ice of the Weddell Sea, is one of the most famous and enduring images to come out of Shackleton’s expedition. In his diary entry for August 17 1915, photographer Frank Hurley wrote:

“During the night take flashlight of ship beset by pressure. This necessitated some 20 flashes, one behind each salient pressure hammock, no less than 10 flashes being required to satisfactorily illuminate the ship itself. Half blinded after the successive flashes, I lost my bearings amidst the hammocks, bumping my shins against projecting ice points and tumbling into deep snow drifts.”

The Endurance was beset in the ice of the Weddell Sea in mid January 1913. The men of the Imperial-Trans Antarctic Expedition over wintered on board the beloved vessel (when this photograph was taken); until the austral spring, when
she was crushed by the pack on October 27th, and then sank on November 21. The men were forced to abandon ship and take refuge on the ice. All hope of completing the Trans Antarctic crossing were finally and completely shattered. Shackleton gathered his men around and without emotion or melodrama said, “… (the) ship and stores have gone – so now we’ll go home.” (From A. Macklin’s diary)

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