Vittorio Sella Photographs
Collection Metadata
Title
Vittorio Sella Photographs
Description
The Italian photographer and mountaineer Vittorio Sella (1859–1943) was one of the first photographers to merge primarily documentary mountaineering photography with aesthetics borrowed from landscape painting. His work shows both exquisite detail and an enormous understanding of mood and composition. While he did not see his photographic work as art, he was trained in painting and exhibited two pieces in 1882. Sella understood that his primary audience would be climbers, and his pictures offer clear, almost topographic views of climbing routes.
The Vittorio Sella Photographs comprise 187 items by Vittorio Sella and two items by unidentified photographers. Most of the images were taken between 1880 and 1909, when Sella participated in expeditions in the Alps (1879-1896), the Caucasus (1889, 1890, and 1896), Alaska (1897), Sikkim and Nepal (1899), the Ruwenzori (1906), and the Karakoram (1909).
The collection is arranged by size and by geographic and chronological divisions established by Sella. All but two of the photographs are identified with item numbers which correspond to a finding aid created in 2010.
For most items, the title was taken from a typewritten label in English affixed to the verso by American Alpine Club general secretary and librarian LeRoy Jeffers.
The Vittorio Sella Photographs comprise 187 items by Vittorio Sella and two items by unidentified photographers. Most of the images were taken between 1880 and 1909, when Sella participated in expeditions in the Alps (1879-1896), the Caucasus (1889, 1890, and 1896), Alaska (1897), Sikkim and Nepal (1899), the Ruwenzori (1906), and the Karakoram (1909).
The collection is arranged by size and by geographic and chronological divisions established by Sella. All but two of the photographs are identified with item numbers which correspond to a finding aid created in 2010.
For most items, the title was taken from a typewritten label in English affixed to the verso by American Alpine Club general secretary and librarian LeRoy Jeffers.
Creator
Sella, Vittorio, 1859-1943, photographer
Date
1880-1958 (bulk 1880-1909)
Collection Items
K2 (28,250 feet), northwestern side in the evening from Staircase Peak at 21,657 feet at Camp 8
Negative KR194.
A lake [on] the Baltoro Glacier
Positive 1/6092, negative KR88.
Bride Peak (25,110 feet) from Godwin Austen Glacier
Negative KR129.
Gasherbrum Group from upper Baltoro Glacier
Positive 1/6960?.
Southern wall of K2 (28,250 feet) and Camp 3
Positive 1/6132, negative KR128.
Gasherbrum Peaks from Baltoro Glacier. Centre peak, 26,000 feet. White peak in distance to right of centre peak, 26,360 feet
Positive 1/6960?, negative KR252.
Broad Peak (27,132 feet) from Camp 6 (18,602 feet)
Positive 1/6158, negative KR152.
Telephoto [of] summit [of] Paiju Peak from Baltoro Glacier
Positive 1/6079, negative KR74.
Paiju Peaks and Towers. Telephoto from Rdolsan [Rdokass?] on left side [of] Baltoro Glacier
Positive 1/6089, negative KR85.
Mustagh Tower. Telephoto from upper Baltoro Glacier
Negative KR230.
Collection Tree
- Vittorio Sella Photographs