Infinite Ice: The Arctic and the Alps from 1860 to the Present

Photographs of glaciers and Arctic regions have existed almost as long as photography itself, as a function of documentary and mapmaking endeavors. As early as the 1860s, the medium was used to assess topology, capturing Arctic landscape at a distance and at close quarters, or producing stereoscopic images or panoramas. Glaciologists needed photographs to be taken year after year in order to assess the growth or contraction of the ice, and today repeat photography has become a valuable tool for documenting and demonstrating the real effects of global warming. In Infinite Ice, historical images are reproduced alongside the responses of contemporary artists who have addressed photography and landscape--for example, long, nighttime exposures by Darren Almond, aerial photographs by Olafur Eliasson or panoramic views by Walter Niedermayr. Featuring approximately 100 images, this volume presents a broad variety of glacial photography from 1860 to the present.