Photographs at the edge: Vittorio Sella and Wilfred Thesiger

Abstract

Vittorio Sella (1859-1943) was the foremost mountaineering photographer of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, producing widely celebrated images of K2 and other famed peaks. Sir Wilfred Thesiger (1910-2003) was a writer, photographer, and explorer, whose greatest journey took him across the Rub' al Khali, a vast desert encompassing much of the Arabian Peninsula. In his new book, Roger Hartl considers these two far-flung figures side by side, telling the stories of two influential explorers through their bibliographic and photographic work, and creating a tapestry where exploration, writing, and image-making all conjoin. As Hartl shows in this richly illustrated volume, the triumphs of Sella and Thesiger coincided with the end of a golden age of geographical exploration and with the rise of photography as we know it today.00Exhibition: The Grolier Club, New York, USA (03.03-14.05.2022).

Contents

Forword / Roger Härtl -- Documenting discovery / Paolo Pellegrin -- Vittorio Sella -- Vittorio Sella, pioneer of mountain photography / Angelica Sella -- The high mountains of Vittorio Sella / Paolo Lazzarin -- The Abruzzi Ridge / Vanessa O'Brien -- Catalogue -- Wilfred Thesiger -- A traveler's eye / Alexander Maitland -- Reflections of an explorer / Levison Wood -- Catalogue -- Acknowledgements -- Contributors to the catalogue.