Southern Light: Images From Antarctica

This collection of striking images from Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic is the result of six journeys made to these southernmost lands by Australian photographer David Neilson. The areas covered include the Antarctic Peninsula, East Antarctica, the Ross Sea, South Georgia and Macquarie Island. These outstanding landscape and wildlife photographs are reproduced in both colour and black and white and reveal a part of the grandeur and mystery of this great southern realm.

It’s a pleasure to be here tonight to launch David Neilson’s book: “Southern Light: Images From Antarctica”.

David travelled to Antarctica with the Australian Antarctic Division in 1990 and 2004. And having now looked at the images in this book I, and probably all of you, are very glad that we took David south!

This is a magnificent collection of images, evoking the extraordinary beauty of the Antarctic landscape, its wildlife and its human story.

I have been to some of the places that are portrayed in this book and I can say that the images ‘feel true’ to the spirit of the place. I was particularly taken with the images on pages 260 and 261. They are not the most spectacular images in the book, but they are of a hut my grandfather spent the winter of 1911 in, as a member of Scott’s Northern Party.

This book speaks to the importance of the Division’s arts fellows program. This program and others like it have helped develop a strong tradition of artists/writers/musicians who have made a significant contribution to the total picture of human endeavour in Antarctica – in tandem with the science.

Artists and scientists have much in common – they are curious, passionate about ‘the big idea’, capable of stamina and tenacity when fired up by a concept or project. The well honed observational skills of a visual artist can still compliment the observational skills of a geologist or a marine biologist. They can communicate a great deal about the conditions down there – look at Jan Senbergs’ full-on canvases that describe perhaps the worst side of human impact on the continent – but also speak of the immense and unforgiving scale of the landscape. Indeed look at the images that David has created – the image of a glacier flowing through the Framnes Mountains is incredible (p178).

There are very few people who get the opportunity to go to Antarctica, and yet it is a continent that is very important to Australia and Australians. It is a continent that is critical to the world’s atmospheric and ocean systems. It is a sentinel of global change, and sadly the alarm bells are starting to ring.

So I believe it is important to increase our collective awareness and knowledge of Antarctica through many mediums. One way we do that is through the scientific community. Another way is through international forums like the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, being held here in Hobart in just a few days time.

But the arts community has the capacity to evoke the spirit of the place in a way that a scientific publication and a diplomatic exchange can’t.

Look back to the beginnings of Antarctic exploration. The first images that came back to the rest of the world from the South – the pictures of Hurley and Ponting and other expeditioners – they captured the imaginations of people – it gave those who would never see Antarctica for themselves a sense of the place – the isolation and the scale and the beauty. David Neilson carries on that tradition. And he does it at a time that is critically important for the future of Antarctica. We need the people of Australia and the world to understand the magnificence and importance of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.

In the early years of Antarctic exploration, the artist had a central place. The skills the artists bought south were being utilised by the scientific community to make accurate, articulate recordings of finds in every discipline. Their skills were highly valued. Look at Edward Wilson’s delicate watercolours – beautiful evocative images, but also a documentary of Scott’s tragic journey to the South Pole. And it was also a record of their scientific exploration. While Wilson died in a tent with Scott and Bowers, his art lives on and has inspired generations of people.

I want to retain that place for the artist in Antarctica. The artist can be an excellent communicator – and educator. The vision statement for the AAD says: Antarctica: Valued, Protected and Understood. …..understood by whom? A couple of AAD arts fellows have done wonderful work with children – making significant contributions to public education about the continent and what the AAD does. The art that is created by our arts fellows helps people understand Antarctica. David Neilson helps people understand Antarctica.

There is currently an Antarctic art exhibition in the Drill Hall Gallery in Canberra that includes the work of artists Sidney Nolan, Jan Senbergs, Bea Maddock, Jorg Schmeisser, Anne Noble, Philip Hughes and Chris Drury. The works range across several decades and include ethereal landscapes (Jorg) – tough depictions of the impact of human infrastructure (Jan’s) – cool commentary on the history of exploration and mapping of the coastline (Bea) – projections and sound scapes of ice flows (Chris) – detailed analytical observations(Philip) and true Australian expressionist response to the landscape (Sid) …..thousands of people will see these works.

Many people will also see the exhibition currently running at the National Archives.

Those exhibitions, David’s images and the other creations of Antarctic artists all come together to form a deeper understanding of the place. It helps viewers to understand….that Antarctica is a magnificent and complex place – ….

I have the pleasure of gazing each day at the extraordinary etching that Jorg Schmeisser did of Mawson Station after he went south as an arts fellow in 97/98. Jorg is now seriously ill but his art continues to inspire. Even seasoned expeditioners to Antarctica look in awe at Jorg’s etching. [sadly, Jorg Schmeisser died the day this speech was presented. Australia and the world has lost an extraordinary artist, teacher and mentor – but his sublime art will live on.]

Artists like the ones I have mentioned, and David here tonight, punch above their weight when it comes to influence and contribution – in every sense.

Most Australians will never get to set foot on Antarctic shores. Very few artists will ever go, let alone in a situation where their work is facilitated in a way that can only happen with the AAD. It is to the credit of the goverment that they facilitate the best and most able artists – in the same way that they send the best scientists and expeditioners – to represent us. The works that result – as well as the personal investment of the artists towards their chosen expeditions, ultimately benefit the Australian Antarctic program.

I will conclude with a comment from Helene Shannos, an artist who is also my wife –

“Ultimately, from an artist’s perspective, Antarctica is a HUGE IDEA. But it is a web (or network if you like ) of ideas, that includes the science past and present – the human history with all it’s triumph and tragedy – the current issues around environmental (human) impact and climate change, the wildlife and topography. The scientists do their thing – but the artists will witness and comment and process and record. Who else will do that?”

I congratulate David Neilson for doing that so well in the book we are launching tonight – “Southern Light: Images From Antarctica”.

Thank you.

Published also in Artz here