Scott was aware of, and keenly interested in, technical developments in the early 1900s. He also understood the importance of marketing his second expedition. To help advertise the expedition he took the ‘Camera Artist’ Herbert George Ponting as part of the ‘Terra Nova’ crew. Ponting was considered to be one of the finest travel photographers of his time. When he was appointed he wrote that the expedition would allow him to turn the experiences he had gained into some permanent benefit for mankind.
Ponting taught Scott to use the cumbersome photographic equipment. Unsurprisingly Scott was fascinated by the technique. He made many false starts; on one occasion, having followed the check list carefully and taken photographs to no effect, he worked out that he had forgotten to remove the camera lens. But he developed into a talented photographer. He learnt how to ‘compose’ an image so that, for example, outlines of the tents were in pleasing harmony with the silhouettes of the background mountains, shapes moulded gracefully into each other. It was a technique that took time.
Ponting did not go across the Barrier and on towards the Pole. It was left to his students to faithfully record the last few months of Scott’s ill-fated expedition. Many of these images are in ‘The Lost Photographs of Captain Scott’ edited by Dr. David. M. Wilson.
Could Captain Scott have been saved?
16 FebAn interesting article has recently appeared in the Polar Record. Written by Karen May, it is entitled, ‘Could Captain Scott have been saved? Revisiting Scott’s last expedition’. Ref. Polar Record Cambridge University Press 2012 doi:10.1017/S003224411000751 (p1-19)
The piece suggests reasons for Teddy Evans’ scurvy which, of course indirectly led to Cherry-Garrard being sent with the dog teams to replenish the stores on the Barrier. It also questions Huntford’s assertion that Scott sent ‘last minute’ verbal orders with Teddy Evans before he returned to base, concerning the dog teams being sent onto the Barrier. She thinks this unlikely, stating rather that these orders had been given in a written memorandum to Mears on 20th October 1911. Also that Scott had discussed various eventualities with other members of the team
One of the reasons that Oates hung on for so long may have been that he was hoping for the dog teams to pick up the returnees.
The article reflects on the motives and actions of the important participants in this final part of the fateful drama.
Isobel Williams – Author, Cruise Speaker and Lecturer 