#4357. The Spectacle of “Nothing”: the image, material, and object in a photographic ecosystem of Antarctica

September 2026publication date
Proposal available till 05-06-2025
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Journal’s subject area:
Visual Arts and Performing Arts;
Cultural Studies;
Communication;
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Abstract:
Photographic records of early 1900s polar expeditions encapsulated a paradox: the spectacle of “monotonous” “numbing whiteness” in images of “nothing” that were intended for public exhibition. This article examines expedition photography as an ecosystem of materials and meanings to reconsider the status of the “failed” photographic experiments that have remained sublimate to the iconic images of polar exploration. Light sensitive materials — photographic emulsion layered onto glass plates and strips of flexible transparent celluloid nitrate film — are integral to the registration of the image. Anomalies, such as details that were effaced by overexposure to light and watermarks registered the effects of labour in a polar climate These “failed photographic plates were occluded from exhibition, yet remain integral to the ideation of the incomprehensible in polar expedition narratives.
Keywords:
Photographic records; photographic experiments; image; expedition narratives

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