Infinite Ice: The Arctic and the Alps from 1860 to the Present

by Klaus Albrecht Schröder, Monika Faber, Maren Gröning

Photographs of glaciers and Arctic regions have existed almost as long as photography itself, as a function of documentary and mapmaking endeavors. As early as the 1860s, the medium was used to assess topology, capturing Arctic landscape at a distance and at close quarters, or producing stereoscopic images or panoramas. Glaciologists needed photographs to be taken year after year in order to assess the growth or contraction of the ice, and today repeat photography has become a valuable tool for documenting and demonstrating the real effects of global warming. In "Infinite Ice," historical images are reproduced alongside the responses of contemporary artists who have addressed photography and landscape--for example, long, nighttime exposures by Darren Almond, aerial photographs by Olafur Eliasson or panoramic views by Walter Niedermayr. Featuring approximately 100 images, this volume presents a broad variety of glacial photography from 1860 to the present.

Genres: Photography, Mountaineering

112 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Philippe]

Nicely produced catalogue (hardback, 112 pages) published in conjunction with a 2008 exhibition at the Albertina in Vienna. The book is out of print but can still be found easily and relatively cheaply in the antiquarian circuit.

It brings together images of glacier (or glaciated) landscapes, both early and contemporary, alpine and arctic. In the selection of nineteenth-century images there is an inevitable bias towards Austrian photographers (Gustav Jägermayer, Friedrich Simony, Wilhelm Burger, Richard Basso). The (slender) counterpoint provided by contemporary artists is somewhat more cosmopolitan (Walter Niedermayr, Olafur Eliasson, Darren Almond).

There is an interesting lead essay by curator Monika Faber supplemented with short texts to introduce the various sections of the exhibition.

The book is recommended for amateurs of early Alpine and Arctic photography if only because most of this material will be difficult to access elsewhere.