PONTING, Herbert

b. 1870; d. 1935

Herbert Pointing was a travel photographer active at the turn of the century, and is particularly remembered for his coverage, in 1911, of the ill-fated expedition by Captain Robert Falcon Scott to the South Pole.

It would seem that Ponting did not enjoy the long journey by ship; Scott wrote:

"Pointing cannot face meals but sticks to his work constantly being sick...with a developing dish in one hand, and an ordinary basin in the other!"

However, the results, when he reached the Antarctic, were spectacular.

Those who find a tripod an encumbrance might spare some thought for Ponting who, when travelling had to pull a one-man sledge with 400lb. of photographic and camping equipment on it!

Ponting did not go on the final journey and when, on the way back, Captain Scott and his team died, he sought to preserve the memory of his employer in a book published in 1921, and in a film several years later.