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Face to Face: Polar Portraits by Huw Lewis-Jones
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'The greatest polar portraits of all time … Face to Face proves that though temperatures may rise and gear improve, the hardened look of a wind-worn face will never change’ - National Geographic Adventure
‘Picture Book of the Year ... The frosty exactitude of Freud's drawings has nothing on Face to Face: Polar Portraits by Huw Lewis-Jones. A collection of archive images of polar explorers past and present, it's an evocative record of the men and, latterly, women who ventured, fur-clad, into the frozen wastes. The vintage portraits are particularly compelling ... Their toughness is echoed in the present by Sir Ranulph Fiennes, here covered in blood - caused by a piece of fallen ice that didn't bother Fiennes nearly so much as the thought that he might have missed lunch. Who says the age of heroism is dead?’ The Observer
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A lavish account of pioneering polar photography and modern portraiture, Face to Face brings together in a single volume both rare, unpublished treasures from the historic collections of the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI), University of Cambridge, alongside cutting-edge modern imagery from expedition photographer Martin Hartley.
The first book to examine the history and role of polar exploration photography, Face to Face is a unique project of unsurpassed quality. Face to Face features the very first polar photographs, the first portraits of explorers, some of the earliest photographs of the Inuit, the first polar photographs to appear in a book, and rare images never before published from many of the Heroic-Age Antarctic expeditions. Almost all the historic imagery - daguerreotypes, magic lantern slides, glass plate negatives and images from private albums - that have been rediscovered during research for this book have never been before the public eye.
Alongside fifty of the world’s finest historic polar portraits from the SPRI collections are fifty modern-day images by leading expedition photographer Martin Hartley, who has captured men and women of many nations, exploring, working, and living in the Polar Regions today. In addition to this remarkable collection is a foreword written by respected adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, two fascinating essays examining polar photography ‘then’ and ‘now’ by polar historian and curator of art at SPRI, Dr Huw Lewis-Jones; and an afterword by the best-selling author Hugh Brody.
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More reviews and customer comments:
'Book of the Week' - The Sunday Times
'... spell-binding ...' - The Mail on Sunday
'... picture perfect ...' - The Irish Times Magazine
'... remarkable ...' - Sublime Magazine
'... Book of the Month - Outstanding! ...' - The Travellers Club
‘... one of the most impressive polar books in recent years…’ - Explorers Journal
‘…the largest, best and most comprehensive collection of polar explorer portraits ever published…’ - Bookdealer
'... a beautifully produced book ... Herbert Ponting’s haunting cover portrait of the piercing eyes and sun-blackened face of Cecil Meares—expert dog driver on Scott’s Terra Nova expedition—underlines what will surely be the expectation of many that these will mainly be portraits of explorers. Many indeed are, but an important point the selection underlines is that the poles, or at least the Arctic, are a region where people live as well as explore and do science, a point made with gentle grace by Hugh Brody in his afterword' - The Arctic Book Review
‘Lewis-Jones assembles a panoply of portraiture that brings rich surprises at every turn of the page…This is no ordinary coffee-table book; with its singular images, the high quality of their reproduction, and the rich array of historical contexts provided for every image, Face to Face is quite simply the most engaging collection of polar portraiture ever assembled’ - Professor Russell A. Potter
'I recently got my hands on a copy of Huw Lewis-Jones’ Face to Face: Polar Portraits, a stunning collection of photographs from polar expeditions past and present …Flipping through the book, I couldn’t help but feel as if I were peeking in to an odd family album, one that documented generation upon generation of eccentrics and visionaries … This is a gorgeous book, a one-of-its-kind examination of the role of photography in polar exploration and of the people who made and who continue to make history at the literal ends of the earth. Grab yourself a copy and delve into the history of polar exploration from your favourite chair' - Graham Dickson
‘...absolutely stunning…Face to Face is a beautiful book – a testament to man’s great strength and determination in extreme environments. Each portrait captures all the majesty, sorrow, wisdom, happiness and love of the world you would expect from the eyes that have seen everything – from both sides of the camera’ - Shaun Shackleton
Many thanks to Arctic Kingdom for their generous support of this project. For more information on Arctic Kingdom, the leading logistics supplier for adventurers, scientists and film companies, please go to our links page.
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