Collectors' List No. 108 • 2004
Ice & Snow: Antarctica and Mt Everest

NOTE: Linked large images in this collection have now been archived. If you would like to view images other than those thumbnailed here please contact us email.
Robin Smith (b.1927)
...Robin Smith is the only son of a sheep and cattle stud property owner in the South Island in the foothills of the Southern Alps in New Zealand. He had planned to participate in the family business but a change of circumstances resulted in him leaving the property and attending Canterbury University College to study fine arts.
...He became interested in writing, principally on natural history and adventure, and began to illustrate his work. A camera was purchased in 1951 to assist with illustrating his articles, and photography became a consuming interest from that time. He contributed photographs and articles to major magazines including National Geographic, Outdoor Life, and Field & Stream. Life books began using his photographs and stories in the 1950s as did European publications such as Illustrated London News, Bunte Deutche Illustrierte, Schweizer Illustrierte, Kristall, La Settimana Incom Illustrata.
...In 1956, Smith won an international photographic competition which brought him recognition. He received an assignment to cover the United States expedition, Operation Deep Freeze, in Antarctica in 1958. A commercial studio with staff was established in Christchurch in 1960 and his first photographic books on both New Zealand and Australia were published in 1963. During the late 1960s Robin moved to Sydney, Australia and established himself as a freelance photographer. In 1973, he won the Paul Hamlyn Group Best Seller award, and the Shell Company Book of the Year award in 1978.
...Robin Smith has been a principal or joint author of 26 books on Australia, New Zealand and New Guinea and his books are still in print.
81 Observation Hill
On the summit of Observation Hill, Ross Island, is this huge cross made of Australian jarrah timber in memory of Captain Scott and his men . . ., 1958. Silver gelatin photograph; annotated, signed and dated verso; 25 x 20cm.
Annotated: On the summit of Observation Hill, Ross Island is this huge cross made of Australian jarrah timber in memory of Captain Scott and his men who died on their return from the South Pole at the end of March 1912, just 11 miles short of One Ton Depot. At the base, with the names of the men, is the inscription: '"Who died on their return from the Pole, March 1912. To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."
Ref: Ant G1/02
 $1,800
82 Memorial cross...
...George Vince . . ., Hut Point, Ross Island, 1958. Silver gelatin photograph; annotated, signed and dated verso;
20 x 25cm.
Annotated: Hut Point, Ross Island. The memorial cross to George Vince who slipped off an ice cliff near here in March 1902 on the fist sledging expedition. His body was never recovered.
Ref: Ant G1/04, #514
 $1,800
83 A tabular iceberg...
...in a vast field of sea ice . . ., Ross Sea, 1958. Silver gelatin photograph; annotated, signed and dated verso;
25 x 20cm.
Annotated: Ross Sea. A tabular iceberg in a vast field of sea ice. Only about a fifth of a ‘berg shows above the surface. Some of these tabular ‘bergs can cover hundreds of square kilometres. Wind and currents can cause them to travel through thick ice with ease – a great hazard to ships.
Ref: Ant G1/05, #20
 $1,500
84 US Icebreaker "Glacier"
Ross Sea, 1958. Silver gelatin photo- graph; annotated, signed and dated verso; 20 x 25cm.
Annotated: Ross Sea. US icebreaker "Glacier" (GB4) heading towards the US base at McMurdo through a sea of ice.
Ref: Ant G1/06, #880
 $1,200
85 Pram Point, Ross Island
Enormous pressure is exerted where land and sea ice collide . . ., Pram Point, Ross Isl., McMurdo Sound, 1958. Silver gelatin photo-graph; annotated, signed and dated verso;
20 x 25cm.
Annotated: Pram Point, Ross Island, McMurdo Sound. Enormous pressure is exerted where land and sea ice collide, resulting in fractures. In the process bizarrely shaped blocks of ice are tossed into a weird icescape. Thin ice sometimes covers deep chasms below making it a dangerous area to go through.
Ref: Ant G1/07, #104.
 $1,500
86 Robert Scott's discovery hut...,
Hut Point, Ross Island, 1958. Silver gelatin photograph; annotated, signed and dated verso; 20 x 25cm.
Annotated: Hut Point, Ross Island. Robert Scott’s discovery hut and in the background the George Vince memorial cross on Hut Point. Vince was drowned nearby in March 1902.
Ref: Ant G1/08, #520.
 $1,500
87 Pram Point, Ross Island
Fractured ice tossed in every direction . . ., Pram Point, Ross Island, McMurdo Sound, 1958. Silver gelatin photograph; annotated, signed and dated verso; 20 x 25cm.
Annotated: Pram Point, Ross Island, McMurdo Sound. Fractured ice tossed in every direction is the result of land and sea ice meeting under enormous pressure. It can be difficult and dangerous to pass through.
Ref: Ant G1/09, #105
 $1,800
88 McMurdo Sound
The seemingly endless expanse of sea ice sculpted by the wind . . ., McMurdo Sound, Oct 1958. Silver gelatin photograph; anno-tated, signed & dated verso; 25 x 20cm. Annotated: Mc Murdo Sound. The seemingly endless expanse of sea ice sculpted by the wind. This is called sastrugi. Winds around the coast can reach 300 kilometres per hour. Katabatic winds blowing off Beardmore Glacier have been recorded at much greater velocities than that.
Ref: Ant G1/10 336
 $1,500
89 US Icebreaker "Glacier"...
...smashing its way through the ice . . ., Ross Sea, Oct 1958. Silver gelatin photograph; annotated, signed and dated verso; 25 x 20cm.
Annotated: Ross Sea. The US icebreaker, "Glacier" smashing its way through ice about 1.5m thick on its way to McMurdo Sound. The older the ice, the harder it is. Really old ice screams like steel on the steel hull of the ship.
Ref: Ant G1/11#32
 $1,500
90 Pram Point, Ross Island
Before the world became more environmentally conscious..., Pram Point, Ross Island, McMurdo Sound, 1958. Silver gelatin photograph; annotated, signed and dated verso;
25 x 20cm.
Annotated: Pram Point, Ross Island, McMurdo Sound. Before the world became more environmentally conscious, trash was dumped on the ice. There, "pressure ice" tossed it into bizarre forms.
Ref: Ant G1/12, #875
 $1,500