Disney’s documentaryEndurancecelebrates the remarkable achievement ofSir Ernest Shackleton, the British explorer who, in 1914, attempted the first trans-antarctic crossing, only to fall foul of brutal weather and ice. Shackleton’s ship,Endurance, was lost in the effort, but the Englishman’s great achievement was saving the lives of all27Endurancecrew membersdespite a treacherous 800-mile trek across sea and snow.Among that crew was the Australian photographer and cinematographer Frank Hurley, who was contracted to produce moving and still images to celebrate and commemorate the adventure.
Hurley was a safe bet for Shackleton, having already worked in theAntarctic on Douglas Mawson’s Australasian Antarctic Expedition in 1911, spending three years in the icy wilderness. Hurley produced a documentary about that experience,Home of the Blizzard.At 29 years of age, Hurley had the credentials to fulfill Shackleton’s public relations vision, which the ex-magazine journalist realized was the lifeblood of a cash-hungry expedition. Hurley’s work is an indispensable element ofEndurance,bringing to life the very real and brutal conditions Shackleton and his men experienced from 1914 to 1916.
Frank Hurley’s Photography & Cinematography On Shackleton’s Endurance Expedition Explained
Hurley’s Photography Was Groundbreaking
To secure Hurley’s services, Shackleton offered him 25% of the expedition’s film rights. Hurley grabbed the opportunity, traveling with about seven differentKodak cameras and two cine cameras, together with a mixture of tripods, lenses, black-and-white film, and developing paraphernalia. Most of his pictures were taken on glass plates. However, when the Endurance sank in 1915, most of his equipment was lost with the ship, pershackleton.com. He managed to salvage a hand-held Vest Pocket Kodak and three rolls of film and was only able to shoot 38 more pictures from the crew’s miraculous nine-month journey to safety.
Fortunately, out of 500 or more glass-plate negatives he took, he was able to save 120, which are now housed at the New South Wales State Library.Hurley. Once back in civilization, Hurley collated all his materials from the Shackleton expedition into a documentary film,South,which he produced in 1919. Hurley’s work is characterized by an uncompromising attitude to getting the best possible shot, regardless of the dangers involved. He also played his part in Shackleton’s crew and was one of the 22 men left on Elephant Island for four months waiting for Shackleton’s return and rescue.
Frank Hurley’s Role In Both World Wars
Hurley Was An Appointed Photographer During Both World Wars
Having survived the Antarctic, less than a year later Hurley was in France with the Australian Imperial Force to film Australian soldiers battling at Passchendaele -his photography of the Third Battle of Ypres in 1917 earned him the honorary rank of captain. However, his time with the AIF ended controversially when he was accused of creating composite (montage) photographs for his 1918 London exhibitionAustralian War Pictures and Photographs.Hurley argued that his methods"illustrate to the public the things our fellows do and how war is conducted," while the AIF labeled his photography as fake.
How Long The Endurance Crew Was Stranded In Antarctica
The Endurance crew set out for Antarctica, but an ice wall quickly trapped the ship, and they became stranded on ice for a number of days.
Undeterred, Hurley took on a role in World War II as the Australian Department of Information’s Photographic Unit head, based in Cairo from 1940-1943.His groundbreaking films of the victory over the Italians at Sidi Barrani in 1940, the battle of Bardia and the Siege of Tobruk in 1941, and the battle of Al Alamein in 1942 were released globally by Cinesound and Movietone News. In 1943, he joined the British Information Ministry, covering a region from Libya to Persia. In September 1946 and at the end of the war, with a string of documentary credits to his name, Frank Hurley returned to Australia, according tolegionmagazine.com.
Frank Hurley Worked On Documentaries & Movies Before His Death In 1962
Hurley Was A Photographer And Filmmaker To The Very End
Much of Hurley’s best-known documentary work was produced between the wars, includingPearls & Savages,The Hound of the Deep,Siege of the South,A Nation is Built, and40,000 Horsemen,all made between the 1920s and 1940. Upon his return to Australia, he wrote and directed several feature films and worked on sets as a cinematographer.He also produced his war diaries, which left a literary legacy as well as his photographic one, in which he graphically described the horrors of war: “The exaggerated machinations of hell are here typified,” he wrote, “Everywhere the ground is littered with bits of guns, bayonets, shells and men."
The photographs are unique for the vantage points Hurley finds in the vast white backdrop of the Antarctic.
InEndurance,Hurley’s films and photographs of Shackleton’s doomed expedition sustain the film’s historical footage of the crew’s heroic fight for survival in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. The photographs, in particular, are unique for the vantage points Hurley finds in the vast white backdrop of the Antarctic to produce such dramatic and precise compositions. Frank Hurley died on June 19, 2025, at the age of 76, while still on assignment taking photographs.
