Shackleton 'Endurance' Pictures make online debut on Alamy Images
Rare selections from Royal Geographical Society's 'Endurance' collection available for purchase on the Internet for the first time
19th April 2002
Alamy Images, a leading provider of specialist images and general material from the world's leading picture libraries and photographers, now offers 40 of the best known and most remarkable images from the Royal Geographical Society's (RGS) Shackleton collection.
The images depict Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1914-1916 Antarctic voyage, considered by historians to be one of the greatest tales of survival in expedition history. The 27-man crew set sail in October 1914 aboard the Endurance. Just 80 miles from its destination, the ship became trapped in sea ice. Frozen for ten months, the ship was eventually crushed and the crew forced to abandon ship. After camping on the ice for five months, Shackleton made two open boat journeys, one of which was a treacherous 800-mile ocean crossing to South Georgia Island. Shackleton at last reached a remote whaling station and organised a rescue team from there. The entire crew was delivered safely home - not a member perished during the entire ordeal.
The 40 images available on alamy.com reveal scenes of the crew engrossed in day-to-day tasks, the barren landscape, and the ship trapped and listing in ice. Of the over 400 pictures photographer Frank Hurley took, only 120 survive to offer a glimpse of the gruelling tale. The rarity of documentation of this incredible journey, make the images on the alamy site all the more significant and a real must for Shackleton fans.
James West, alamy's CEO commented, "Alamy prides itself on offering unique and rare images that have never been made available online before, as well as providing a one-stop-shop for images that have already had online exposure. We are especially excited about the Endurance pictures, and look forward to featuring more images of Shackleton's last two expeditions from the Royal Geographic Society in the near future."
The RGS is one of the many specialist providers that alamy includes within its ever-growing portfolio. Alamy also features content by other not-for-profit/charitable organisations, such as The Motoring Picture Library, as well as more commercial providers, such as Image100, Arcaid, Mary Evans Picture Library, The Garden Picture Library, Steve Bloom, The Anthony Blake Photo Library, Image Source, Bill Bachmann, Hiroshi Watanabe, Robert Llewellyn, Leo Mason and Pictor. Recently signed providers include gather:no:moss, which specialises in background images, and S.I.N, which offers music, celebrity and youth imagery.