These remarkable images were recently discovered and restored by the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust, who found 22 cellulose nitrate negatives frozen in a block of ice in a box inside an Antarctic exploration hut. The images had to be painstakingly separated and cleaned before becoming usable, and some were damaged. The photographs show Antarctica through the eyes of explorers from a whole century ago, and include icy scenes, as well as portraits of explorers who were probably from Ernest Shackleton’s Ross Sea Party (1914-1917) who spent time in Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s hut after becoming stranded in a blizzard at sea. The identity of the photographer has not yet been confirmed but is thought to be Arnold Spencer-Smith.
