{"id":2948,"date":"2023-12-01T06:00:55","date_gmt":"2023-12-01T11:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/?p=2948"},"modified":"2023-12-14T14:11:30","modified_gmt":"2023-12-14T19:11:30","slug":"photoroll-antarctica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/2023\/12\/01\/photoroll-antarctica\/","title":{"rendered":"photo+roll: “LIFE Visits Wright Valley,” LIFE, February 1985"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Laura Smith, Photo Archivist<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

This post is part of a blog series, photo+roll, featuring photographs from the Documentary Photography Archive. <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

Happy Antarctica Day! <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Antarctica Day commemorates the anniversary of the signing of the Antarctic Treaty on December 1, 1959, signed by countries to “Recogniz[e] that it is in the interest of all mankind that Antarctica shall continue forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become the scene or object of international discord…” (1)<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"United<\/a>
United States Navy helicopter crew member photographs penguins, Antarctica, December 1984<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Lynn Johnson Collection<\/a> contains images by photojournalist Lynn Johnson while on assignment in Antarctica<\/span><\/span> for LIFE magazine. In late 1984, Johnson, along with LIFE senior editor Jeff Wheelwright, traveled to Antarctica for a story on Wright Valley and the studies being conducted there by scientists from across the world.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Onyx River, Wright Valley, Antarctica, December 1984<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Johnson spent approximately two weeks photographing in Antarctica from November 26 \u2013 December 10, 1984. In a letter from Jack Renirie, Director of Public Affairs and Publications Group at the National Science Foundation, he<\/span> notifies Johnson of her selection for an \u201cantarctic new media trip\u201d and details what she could expect as she made her way to Antarctica via New Zealand:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cWe will issue all antarctic gear as soon as you arrive \u2013 in fact you may be taken to the warehouse to try it on soon after you arrive in Christchurch.<\/span> You will get almost everything you will need including such things as gloves, socks, and longjohns. We do not issue indoor clothing, so bring along some jeans or other casual pants and a couple (more<\/span> if the spirit moves you) light flannel or wool shirts and some indoor shoes. Running shoes are okay to wear around McMurdo if there is no snow. Bring along a portable typewriter if you expect to be doing a lot of typing on the ice; otherwise, we can take care of you…\u201d<\/span> (<\/em>2)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Johnson, along with newly arriving scientists and military personnel, had to complete survival training<\/span> on Ross Island, which included learning about traveling in crevasse fields, building survival shelters, and navigation.  <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Survival course members practice ascending and descending ice formations by rope, Antarctica, December 1984<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Johnson\u2019s photographs document the survival training, the vastness of the Antarctic landscape and wildlife, and, of course, the scientific research conducted in Wright Valley, described by LIFE as \u201cone area of the world which encourages international scientific cooperation\u201d as an \u201cunusual and fascinating area [that] has served as a laboratory for scientists from many countries of the world probing Antarctica\u2019s mysteries.\u201d (3) Scientists from Japan, New Zealand, China, Peru, Germany, and the United States were among those Johnson photographed. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Geologist Robie Vestal, located at a camp on Linnaeus Terrace, makes radio contact with the American base on Ross Island, Antarctica, December 1984<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Divers haul equipment needed to search for microscopic life forms underwater, Antarctica, December 1984<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Japanese researchers collect water samples, Don Quixote Pond, Wright Valley, Antarctica, December 1984<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

The hundreds of<\/span> images <\/span>Johnson made <\/span>over the <\/span>two<\/span> weeks <\/span>were <\/span>edited<\/span> down<\/span> to <\/span>just <\/span>52 images<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>captioned for potential publication and, ultimately, only six were published in LIFE’s February 1985 issue for the article “LIFE Visits Wright Valley, Antarctica: Investigating the World’s Coldest Desert.” <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The full 52 image edit can <\/span>now be <\/span><\/span>viewed in the <\/span>Digital Archives<\/span><\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

If <\/span>you <\/span>have questions or would like to see more of the images<\/span>, <\/span><\/span>get in touch<\/span><\/span><\/a>!\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sources:<\/h2>\n

(1) The Antarctic Treaty. National Science Foundation. URL: https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/geo\/opp\/antarct\/anttrty.jsp, accessed 29 November 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

(2) Jack Renirie to Lynn Johnson. 30 August 1984. Lynn Johnson Collection, Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections, Ohio University Libraries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(3) “LIFE Visits Wright Valley Antarctica: Investigating the World’s Coldest Desert,” LIFE, February 1985.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Laura Smith, Photo Archivist This post is part of a blog series, photo+roll, featuring photographs from the Documentary Photography Archive. \u00a0 Happy Antarctica Day!   Antarctica Day commemorates the anniversary of the signing of the Antarctic Treaty on December 1, 1959, signed by countries to “Recogniz[e] that it is in the interest of all mankind […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":3003,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[144,24,142,145],"class_list":["post-2948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-documentary-photography-archive","tag-environment","tag-lynn-johnson","tag-photographs","tag-science"],"modified_by":"Laura Smith","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2948"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2948\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3169,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2948\/revisions\/3169"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}