JAMES CAIRD SOCIETY SHACKLETON NEWS

FRANK HURLEY: THE MAN WHO MADE HISTORY

BBC 4 TELEVISION DOCUMENTARY : MONDAY 23 AUGUST 2004

Shackleton's photographer Frank Hurley left behind a collection of striking and daring photographs. His most famous images are of Shackleton's Endurance expedition, but he also took remarkable photographs during World War I and in his native Australia.

Using extensive archive footage shot by Hurley, as well as many of his photographs, this one hour documentary, to be shown on BBC 4 on Monday 23 August 2004 (9pm-10pm, repeated at 12.10am-1.10am; 3.05am-4.05am), traces the photographer's life and work.

We return to the Antarctic with the photographer's twin daughters and also hear about the controversy surrounding some of his pictures.

Frank Hurley was born in Australia in 1885 and ran away from home when he was 14 to work on the docks. He bought his first camera when he was 17
He made six trips to the Antarctic, including the expedition led by Shackleton on the Endurance.

When the team, was forced to abandon the Endurance , Hurley had to leave behind 400 of his 520 glass negatives because they were so heavy.

After working as an official photographer on the Western Front during the Great War of 1914-18, Hurley travelled to Palestine to film the Australian troops.

Following his anthropological film Pearls and Savages, Hurley faced charges of having exploited the people of New Guinea. His star dimmed further as he made a couple of lacklustre feature films, including The Jungle Woman in 1926.

Towards the end of his life Hurley returned to Australia and made his name once more as a pictorial photographer.

He died in Australia in 1962.