A display of photographs taken on the first expedition to climb Mount Everest will be on show in Melbourne from 14 July to 14 August.

 

July 12, 2005: A display of photographs taken on the first expedition to climb Mount Everest will be on show in Melbourne from 14 July to 14 August.
Jointly organised by Kodak Australasia and LabX, the exhibition is a retrospective of the work of Alfred Gregory, the official stills photographer during the first successful ascent of Everest in 1953. All photographs were taken with a Kodak Retina II camera with its 50mm f2 Xenon lens. The Retina II had a lightweight body and easy loading mechanism for 35mm film. It was Gregory’s first choice to carry above the South Col to capture the now iconic pictures of Hillary and Tenzing approaching the highest camp at 8,500 metres.
For 20 years after the ascent of Everest, Gregory worked freelance for Kodak presenting up to 40 illustrated lectures to mass audiences each winter. Now, over 50 years after Mount Everest was first climbed, his historic images have been newly printed on Kodak’s Endura paper, which presents a range of flesh-tones and a metallic quality that aptly communicates the luminance and reflectivity of snow.
The exhibition opens at LabX Gallery at 40 Pakington Street, St Kilda on Thursday, 14 July and runs to Sunday, 14 August. The gallery is open Mondays to Fridays from 7.30am to 9.00pm and on Sundays between 1.00pm and 7.00pm. Admission is free of charge.