The project
Two historic anniversaries fall in 2009: the 150th anniversary of the birth of the great alpine explorer and photographer, Vittorio Sella, and the 100th anniversary of the momentous mountain-climbing expedition to the Karakorum Himalayas by H.R.H. the Duke of Abruzzi, Luigi Amedeo di Savoia, in Karakorum: an expedition which became famous for its scientific value, its impressive alpinism and the artistic beauty of the images taken by one of the most important contemporary photographers on that occasion.
Taking inspiration from these two events, a new expedition to the same areas explored by the most known photographic mountain reportages of the past is planned, to picture again the same landscapes imaged on that expedition from the same view points. We believe that the most effective way of illustrating the dramatic changes the planet is undergoing is by directly comparing the glaciers as they were a hundred years ago with the way they are today.
This comparison will render the traumatic changes that have taken place, imperceptible to even the keenest observer if seen day to day, unmistakable and irrefutable.
We intend to organize similar expeditions, for the same purposes, to the Caucasus in 2010 and the Alps in 2011.
The first expedition took place in Karakorum, from July, 24th, to September, 4th, 2009.
This will be a multidisciplinary project combining photographic and scientific techniques:
