Other Peoples Pictures

Spent today in London looking at other peoples pictures for a change - when I should probably have been spending time working on my pictures from the South Atlantic.

I started off at the Queen's Gallery at "The Heart of the Great Alone" - a brilliant collection of images by Herbert Ponting (of Scott's expedition in 1910-12) and by Frank Hurley (of Shackleton's expedition in 1914-15). These images (particularly the Ponting ones, I thought) are really well presented. There is a good audio guide too which gives lots of interesting background to both parts of the collection. Exhibition is on until mid-April, and is definitely worth getting to. I'll be going back for another look - and I probably won't be able to resist buying the catalog next time. Queens Gallery/Great Alone website

My second 'gallery' of the day was the "Wildlife Photographer of the Year" collection at the Natural History Museum. This is one of my regular outings each year, and it rarely disappoints. The content is always amazing, and the presentation is better (in my view!) than any other photographic exhibition I go to. All the images are presented a huge transparencies, which are then lit from behind - no reflections and no shadows. This year I was particularly impressed by the entries in the 'Wild Places' category - I hadn't really rated these images when I'd seen them on paper or on screen before going to the exhibition - seen in the exhibition as transparencies they were simple stunning. This collection is at the NHM until mid-March, when it goes on tour. Natural History Museum/Wildlife Photographer website

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