Exploring in Colour: The Quest’s colour photographs now available

George Hubert Wilkins made a collection of colour photographs during the Shackleton-Rowett Expedition.  These used the autochrome process which at the time was the only practical colour photo process of any quality. As exposure times are long, and black and white and cine photography had a higher priority, Wilkins did not get around to exposing many autochromes.  The 30 plates that have survived belong in the collection of Jan Chojecki, author of The Quest Chronicle, grandson of John Quiller Rowett, the expedition’s backer.  Apart from a very small handful of autochromes exposed, with limited success, by Ponting in 1911 on the Terra Nova Expedition, they represent the only body of colour photography of any polar expedition of the era. 

Now, the Quest autochromes have been digitally scanned at ultra-high resolution. They reveal for the first time the stunning beauty of these scenes, of over a century ago, of RYS Quest, the South Georgia landscapes, the whaling stations, and Quest’s crew at the memorial cairn they had just built to honour the late Sir Ernest Shackleton.   

Certified, deluxe quality prints of these images are becoming available in various sizes and formats. These are individually produced by the master printmaker Georges Charlier, of the leading photographic experts Salto-Ulbeek. 

For more information:  CONTACT questc@btinternet.com