Scott Polar Research InstituteSPRI Review 2008
Picture Library
The Picture Library continues to assist many visitors and enquiries from all over the world with their research of photographic material for use in a variety of publications, television programmes, lectures, museum exhibitions and theatre productions. Images have been supplied to the BBC, to the Canadian Museum of Civilisation, the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, National Geographic Books and to accompany a performance of 'Sinfonia Antarctica' by the Leeds Youth Orchestra; for a number of publications including forthcoming books by Meredith Hooper, Leif Mills and Bob Burton and for the SPRI exhibition and publication Face to Face: polar portraits by Huw Lewis-Jones. Photographic material has also been supplied for exhibitions at the Wardown Park Museum, Luton, the South Georgia Museum, SESC Pompeia, Sao Paulo, Brazil, the McManus Galleries & Museum, Dundee and The Inniskillings Museum, Ireland.
The Picture Library acquired by donation eighty-one lantern slides from the Relief Voyages of SS Morning, generously given by Judy Skelton. The slides enhance the existing collection of photographs held by the Institute and complement other material from the British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901-04. Another very welcome addition to the Picture Library is an album of photographs relating to both Captain Scott and Ernest Shackleton. Baroness Sharples, who was given the photographs by J.J. Kinsey, Captain Scott's agent in New Zealand, donated these photographs to the Institute.
The preventive conservation programme continues with the boxing of five more albums in the collection. Purpose-built boxes were constructed by a conservator for the collection of photograph albums compiled by Lt James Hamilton Martin who was on both the British Arctic Air Route Expedition, 1930-31 and the British Graham Land Expedition, 1934-37. The Friends of SPRI generously provided funds. The Picture Library would like to acknowledge the invaluable help given by the team of volunteers; Angela Haines and Jennifer Hirsh and to Winifred Ware, who very sadly passed away in August after a short illness.
Lucy Martin
