Frank Hurley was an Australian photographer, filmmaker, and adventurer born in Sydney, Australia, in 1885. Hurley is best known for his images of the Antarctic and his photographs and films of the Australian Imperial Forces during World War I. He is also remembered for his ability to capture the spirit of adventure and endurance in the face of extreme hardship and danger. Hurley’s images, notably his antarctic ones, continue to inspire generations. They are considered a testament to the bravery and determination of the early explorers of the Antarctic.

Career

Hurley became interested in photography in his late teens. He purchased a Kodak Box Brownie for 15 shillings and joined Henry Cave in a postcard business in Sydney. Working with Cave, he began to develop a reputation for the highly technical quality of his work. He also gave talks at photographic clubs and held the first exhibition of his work in 1910 at age twenty-five.

Mawson Expedition

In 1911,  Sir Douglas Mawson invited Hurley to be the official photographer on the Australasian Antarctic Expedition. Hurley worked willingly under arduous conditions, taking still photographs and movie films. His cheerful and willing nature made him a popular and valuable team member.

Upon the expedition returning to Sydney in 1914, Hurley quickly assembled his movie footage into a documentary, “Home of the Blizzard”. This was successfully presented to the public in August 1914

“Hurley is a warrior with his camera, and would go anywhere or do anything to get a picture.”

~ Lionel Greenstreet, First Officer of the Expedition Ship Endurance.

Shackelton Expedition

The Shackleton Expedition, also known as the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, was a 1914-1917 Antarctic exploration led by Sir Ernest Shackleton. Their goal was to cross the Antarctic continent from coast to coast via the South Pole and to be the first to do so. However, the expedition, plagued by numerous difficulties and setbacks, never accomplished its goal. These setbacks included being trapped in ice for eleven months before the ship was crushed and sank. Fortunately, the men escaped, however, with limited supplies and only three lifeboats. They then spent the next five months floating on an iceberg before landing on Elephant Island.

On Elephant Island, they established a makeshift camp. The ‘island’ was just a rock in the ocean with a few penguins and seals for food. With winter approaching, the only option was for Shackleton and a small team to go for help. Shackelton decided to attempt the difficult 1200km (800-mile) journey across the Southern Ocean, one of the roughest seas in the world, to South Georgia Island. He chose six men, and they took off in a 22-foot lifeboat while the rest of the team, including Hurley, remained stranded on Elephant Island. Shackelton and the six men arrived at South Georgia Island whaling station 17 days later after dodging pack ice and sailing through a hurricane. They then had to cross forty miles of uncharted mountains.

Rescue

A Chilean trawler with Shackleton on board returned to Elephant Island four months later and rescued the rest of his team. Not one man had been lost. Instead of being regarded as a failure, the expedition was hailed as a triumph of human endurance and perseverance in the face of extreme hardship and danger. The story of the Shackleton Expedition continues to inspire generations. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest survival stories in the history of exploration.

WWI Intervenes

Frank Hurley was the first official photographer of the Australian “Imperial Forces “AIF) during World War I. In 1916 he accompanied the AIF to the Middle East with the rank of honorary Captain. However, the troops dubbed him the “mad photographer” upon seeing the risks he took when capturing images of the Australian troops and the battlefields they fought on.

Hurley’s photographs are an important visual record of the experiences of the Australian soldiers during the war. They helped to build a sense of national identity and pride in the country’s military. Many of his images are now considered iconic and are held in the archives of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Australia.

Composite Images

Hurley was a strong defender of pictorialism. He believed photographs should express ideas, tell stories, and excite emotions in much the same way as paintings. Subsequently, he began manipulating war pictures. Though not widely known, some of his most famous battle scenes are, in fact, composites of several negatives.

Composite images are created by combining multiple photographs into a single image. Hurley used this technique to create dramatic and visually striking images of the Antarctic and the battlefields of World War I. For example, Hurley used composite images to show the destruction of the Endurance during the Shackleton Expedition. He also created composite images of the Australian troops in the trenches during World War I.

Clash of Ideals

Under the direction of official war historian Charles Bean, Hurley’s job was to record the fighting for “propaganda purposes”. However, confronted with the horrors and sheer scale of the battlefields and unable for obvious reasons to photograph out of the trenches, Hurley created composites. He often used multiple photographic negatives to create a single image with heightened drama. While not a new technique, it was such a departure from the literal truth that historian Bean was horrified, and the two clashed bitterly.

As a result, Bean forbade Hurley from publishing his composites. Hurley then approached the chief of the Australian forces, and a compromise was reached. Bean conceded the images could be exhibited, but Hurley had to have captions saying they were composites. However, in later exhibitions and publications, the captions somehow disappeared. This resulted in the public taking all of Hurley’s pictures as accurate. In the images below, Hurley cropped the image to a vertical one and added a new sky, creating a much more powerful image.

“Press photography in this war is such a construction of flimsy fake… That is the last thing a historian wants to build on”.

Charles Bean, Official Australian World War I Historian

In January 1918, Hurley was in Palestine, and he borrowed troopers and officers from General Harry Chauvel and filmed their procession through the newly captured streets of Jerusalem. History records that the Australians took no part in the capture of Jerusalem. Regardless, the film lives on as if to prove they did.

Later Career

In 1918, Hurley held successful exhibitions and lecture tours. Sir Ross Smith, the pioneer aviator, invited Hurley to join him on the final stage of his historic flight from England to Australia, allowing Hurley to film Australia from the air.

From 1920 to 1923, Hurley filmed the Torres Strait Islands and Papua. His film “Pearls and Savages” was a major commercial success. He became the pictorial editor for the Sun newspaper in Sydney in 1927 before joining Mawson again for another antarctic research expedition.

WWII

During WWII, he served again as the official photographer of the AIF in the Middle East. Returning to Australia at the war’s end, he published several books on Australian landscape photography and city portraits. He also worked as a journalist and gave lectures. In his lifetime, he was awarded an OBE, the Polar Medal, and two bars in 1934 for the 1929-1931 Antarctic Expeditions.

Hurley continued to travel up to his death of myocardial infarction in 1962. He was survived by his wife of forty-six years and four children.

Frank Hurley Photography Awards

The Mawson’s Huts Foundation Ltd is a non-profit organization based in Australia. It was established to conserve and protect the huts that Sir Douglas Mawson and his team used during their expedition to Antarctica in the early 20th century. The huts in the Commonwealth Bay region of Antarctica are the only surviving site from an Australian Antarctic expedition. Hurley operated a 1.2m² darkroom in the main hut. They are considered one of Antarctica’s most important historical sites and are protected under the Antarctic Treaty System.

The foundation is dedicated to preserving this piece of Australia’s heritage and maintaining the huts as a site of international significance. It works with the Australian Antarctic Division, the Antarctic Heritage Trust, and other organisations to ensure that the huts are preserved and protected for future generations to enjoy. The foundation raises funds through the Frank Hurley Photography Awards, donations, and sponsorships to support its conservation efforts. It also offers educational programs and other opportunities to learn about and support the huts.

The impact of Frank Hurley’s work on photography and exploration cannot be overstated. His exceptional ability to capture extraordinary moments and push the limits of his craft left an enduring mark on both the artistic and scientific aspects of photography. Even today, his contributions are celebrated and serve as a testament to his incredible talent and adventurous spirit.