Following in Frank Hurley’s Footsteps
Frank Hurley, the acclaimed Australian photographer chosen by Sir Ernest Shackleton to be the official chronicler during his Endurance expedition to Antarctica in 1914, was a passionate visual storyteller and an adventurer. He visited the Antarctic six times between 1911 and 1932, photographed the Battle of Ypres in Belgium during World War I, and in the Middle East during World War II. He mounted several expeditions to Papua New Guinea between 1920 and 1926, and documented Australia for much of his career.
Marissa Roth is curating the first comprehensive retrospective about Frank Hurley’s life work. In addition to the research in the archives in Australia and England that retain Hurley’s photographs, writings, etc., she will follow in his proverbial footsteps as both curator and photographer, visiting a number of locales where he photographed; Antarctica, World War I battlefields -Ypres, Belgium, Australia, Papua New Guinea, and Egypt.
She would like to understand and potentially interpret Hurley’s experiences from a photographic and sensory standpoint, what he saw and felt in each of these places - the landscape, light, weather, colors - while knowing full well that on the surface everything will be contemporary. Her photographs will also serve as a record, and her images will be used as supporting material in the exhibition in didactic panels, the catalogue or book.