Conservationists have extracted 22 century-old images from a box of photo negatives they discovered in Antarctica earlier in 2013.
The Antarctic Heritage Trust, of New Zealand, announced the discovery in December, saying the photographs are from Ernest Shackleton’s 1914 to 1917 Ross Sea Party expedition, whose task was to install supply depots on the remote continent.
"It’s an exciting find and we are delighted to see them exposed after a century," Antarctic Heritage Trust’s Executive Director Nigel Watson said in a statement.
The organization called the following image of Shackleton’s Chief Scientist Alexander Stevens "one of the most striking images" of the bunch.
Antarctic Heritage Trust discovered the images during a restoration project at British explorer Robert Falcon Scott's hut on Cape Evans, Ross Island, Antarctica. Shackleton’s party spent time living in Scott's hut because their ship blew out to sea, leaving them stranded on the island, according to the Trust.
It required "painstaking" extraction to convert the cellulose nitrate negatives into photographs. To do so, the Trust tapped photo conservator Mark Strange, who separated and cleaned the mold from the negatives before sending them onto New Zealand Micrographic Services, where they were digitally scanned.
The identity of the original photographer remains unknown. Check out the video above for more on the newly discovered photos. Other photos from the collection are available on the Antarctic Heritage Trust's website.
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