image: This is Herbert Ponting, 'Grotto in a berg. Terra Nova in distance.' Taylor and Wright (Interior) Jan. 5th 1911.' British Antarctic Expedition 1910-1913. Gelatin silver print, 15.5 x 11.5 cm view more
Credit: Royal Geographical Society
In his new book Photography and Exploration, James Ryan, Associate Professor of Historical and Cultural Geography at the University of Exeter, investigates the significant role of photography within modern practices of exploration.
He examines an array of photographs across several expeditions and considers how explorers have often employed images as a means of scientific advancement and of territorial conquest. He argues that, because exploration has long been bound up with the construction of national and imperial identity, expeditionary photographs have often been used to promote claims to power – especially by the West.
Published by Reaktion Books, the richly illustrated volume addresses such expeditions as the first ascent of Mount Everest and the first explorations of the North and South Poles to shed light on the ever-connected relationship between photography and culture.
Dr James Ryan said: "I wanted to probe the veracity of exploration photography and discuss its significance in a society that uses photographic images in both science and art. The book takes readers back to the world of the early 1800s, when explorers sailed the globe without cameras, and forward to our modern society where I ask if modern exploration could ever be conceivable without photography."
In Photography and Exploration, Ryan's insights shed light on how photography has altered our image of explorers, their expeditions and the worlds they witnessed. His work asks us to question how we perceive the world around us as the cultural interpretation and symbolic meaning of photographs develop with time.
Ryan's previous books include Picturing Empire: Photography and the Visualization of the British Empire (Reaktion, 1997) and he is the co-editor of New Spaces of Exploration: Geographies of Discovery in the Twentieth Century (2010).
As a historical and cultural geographer, Ryan's research interests lie in the geographies of colonialism and post-colonialism, visual culture and geography; and the history of geographical knowledge and science.
Notes
Download a series of dramatic high resolution photographs from the book. Please include credits.
Photography and Exploration will be available online and in shops from Friday 28th July 2013. The official publication date is 15 August 2013.
Book Identifier ISBN-13: 978-1780231006
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