Captain Scott’s photographic negatives saved

Captain Scott’s photographic negatives saved

  • Image of camp under the Wild Mountains, Beardmore Glacier, 20 December 1911, overlaid with close up of two negative envelopes
    Camp under the Wild Mountains, Beardmore Glacier, 20 December 1911 with close up of two negative envelopes

Images copyright of The Polar Museum at the Scott Polar Research Institute.

The 113 photographic negatives taken by Captain Robert Falcon Scott on the British Antarctic Expedition in 1911 represent an extraordinary visual record of his last expedition.

In 2014, The Polar Museum at the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge successfully raised the funds needed to be able to purchase the photographic negatives taken by Captain Scott.  The negatives represent an extraordinary visual record of Scott's last expedition, but were in danger of being sold abroad.

The Museum made successful applications to the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the V&A Purchase Grant Fund. A significant amount was also raised from private donors and through a public appeal campaign spearheaded by Sir Ranulph Fiennes.

Scott's negatives are of major significance to national heritage and research. His attainment of the South Pole and his subsequent death captured the public imagination on its discovery in 1913 and continues to exercise an extraordinary fascination.

The most comprehensive record of the British Antarctic Expedition in 1911

The negatives are a record of Scott’s earliest attempts - under the guidance of expedition photographer Herbert Ponting - through to his unparalleled images of his team on the Southern Journey. The force, control and beauty of his portraits and landscapes number them among some of the finest early photographs of the Antarctic. Now, thanks to generosity of philanthropists these national treasures have been saved.

The Scott Polar Research Institute is already home to the remaining prints of Scott's photographs and camera, Herbert Ponting’s glass plate negatives and presentation album from the same expedition. Added to that are the prints and albums of all the other expedition members equipped with a camera. Together, they form the most comprehensive photographic record of the expedition held anywhere in the world.

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As a supporter of the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) centenary campaign, you will inspire and support the next generation through funding for fieldwork, student bursaries and the conservation of our Polar Museum collections and Archives.