Endurance in Antarctica 1915

Here's Hurley’s photograph, a monochrome dreamscape of a ship stuck in the Antarctic ice. I am interested in what Hurley was thinking here, under the duress of this landscape, the kind of crazy resolve needed to document such a scene. The ship is caught, motionless. It reminds me of Courbet’s paintings of the sea, but drained of all color. There is something about the frozen stillness that renders the wooden ship as totally heavy, almost as if it were made of lead. But I can also see a kind of desperate beauty, a desire for escape and freedom in the masts straining upwards. Hurley's work makes me think about the different ways of seeing and knowing. He’s in dialogue with other artists, other modes of expression. The exchange of ideas across time and space, inspiring each other’s creativity. Like painters, photographers embrace ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing multiple readings of their work.