19.07.10
Alfred Gregory: Inspiring mountain photographer profiled
The late Alfred Gregory was a pioneering mountain photographer. His beautiful images of the first successful Everest climb in 1953 are legendary. Here his friend and professional photographer Earl Carter reveals the man he came to know and love.
When Alfred Gregory, or ‘Greg’ as he was known, was asked how come few people knew that he had moved to Australia to live, he replied: “Did you expect me to stand at the top of the stairs just after stepping off the plane into Melbourne, and shout: ‘Here I am’ at the top of my voice? You have got to be joking!”
As I got to know Greg and his dry Lancashire humour over the last six years of his life, I realised that I was in the presence of the quiet man of history. Greg had photographed one of mankind’s greatest achievements: the ascent of Mount Everest by the British team in 1953; documented the heyday of Blackpool in the sixties; travelled and photographed many remote parts of the world, its ancient tribes and peoples; been feted by Henri Cartier-Bresson; and made a successful career as a professional photographer, all the time flying under the radar of fame. He preferred it that way.
There are few iconic memorable photographs of the 20th century that have been important milestones in the culture and psyche of the world. We are all aware of the power of these images because of the skill and creativity of an individual photographer being in the right place at the right time, and importantly planning and anticipating the photograph that was about to unfold in front of them.
There are millions, if not billions of photographs that are taken every day around the world, but if you stop and think about it, there are only a few that are truly memorable.
Such images as the flag being raised on Iwa Jiima by a group of Marines, a Chinese civilian stopping a line of tanks in Tiananmen Square, a naked child running down a road escaping from a napalmed village in Vietnam, Neil Armstrong on the moon, and, of course, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay on top of Mount Everest.
Few people know, however, that the latter photograph was not actually taken on top of the mountain, but down slightly from the summit, where Greg waited patiently to capture the moment. The day before the famous ascent, Greg carried extra supplies and oxygen to Camp 9, dangerously pitched at 8,424 metres above sea level. Short of oxygen and in a hostile environment, Greg took one of most significant photographs known to man.
Few of you may know that this was no easy task, because Greg was using equipment that, although the best at the time in 1953, was all mechanically driven: the shutter and the film advance were driven by minute gears. In extreme freezing temperatures, the grease that lubricated these gears would freeze, effectively rendering the camera frozen. Also, film is, as you all know, thin pieces of plastic with a light-sensitive emulsion coating. No one had ever taken this type of film to these altitudes before. No one knew if it would work.
At these temperatures, the plastic could snap in the camera and render the film useless, so Greg had to be incredibly mindful of keeping the cameras warm by carrying them close to his body most of the time at high altitudes.
Considering the type and amount of equipment he should carry, prior to departure, Greg consulted with Carl Mydans, a famous war and Life magazine photographer, who gave Greg an extra Contax, as well as 50mm and 125mm lens. Greg also took with him a medium-format Rolleiflex and two lightweight fixed-lens Kodak Retina 2 cameras. He took sufficient rolls of film with him, but shot sparingly using a Weston light meter as his only guide for exposure, avoiding bracketing exposures, so each frame was a different image. The black and white film he used was mostly Kodak Panatomic X (ASA 32) and Kodak Plus X (ASA 125).
The colour film he took with him was Kodak Ektachrome and Kodak Kodachrome (ASA 10). The exposed film was sewn into a pre-labelled canvas bag, carried down to base camp and then sent by a runner to the British embassy in Kathmandu for dispatch to the Times in London.
After the success of the expedition, Greg later declared: “I went to Everest an amateur and came back a pro.” He travelled the world for years after, giving lectures on behalf of Kodak on the Everest expedition. He had a sophisticated slideshow of some of the great and by then famous images, with other members of the expedition speaking to packed audiences during the shows. He continued his freelance photography career, documenting various parts of the world, travelling to Peru, Bolivia, Afghanistan, Cambodia, India and Africa.
He also recognised early the phenomenon of the Swinging Sixties in Blackpool, and set out to document the people and character of the era, producing by far some of his strongest images, for which he is, sadly, little known. I first met Greg when he was in his early nineties, after he moved with his wife Sue to Emerald, near Melbourne, Australia, and was astonished at the extensive archive of images he had catalogued, yet that had rarely seen the light of day. Together with a curator, we set about creating a definitive exhibition of Greg’s life’s work in 2006 and began trawling through his files for an upcoming exhibition. To my surprise, the Royal Geographic Society (RGS) in London, holds Greg’s Everest images and he had permission to access the images for his own use.
Kindly, the RGS released the images under strict conditions and we set about restoring and printing many of the Everest images. Restoration was painstakingly done by technicians at Lab-X in Melbourne, necessary because at the time of their processing, the Everest ascent was headline news, so speed in the darkroom was paramount and the images suffered from careless handling, insufficient processing and scratching as they were dragged through the enlargers.
The exhibition was a success, and Greg received national and international recognition for his photography. It is now housed in the public collection of the Monash Art Gallery, Australia. On the strength of the images, Greg was offered a publishing project by Penguin Group (Australia) and the outcome was a lavish book entitled Alfred Gregory – Photographs from Everest to Africa. After creating one of the 20th century’s iconic images, leading a full and productive life, Greg quietly passed away in Melbourne on February 9 2010, three days off his 97th birthday.
WORKING IN REMOTE HIGH MOUNTAIN RANGES
Landscape Master Colin Prior on photographing at high altitude abroad. Being in high altitude is always physically demanding. It cannot be overstated just how important it is to ascend at a slow pace. When suffering from altitude sickness, which includes nausea, headaches and loss of appetite, you won’t want to take photographs.
- Be careful with exposures, particularly in areas of high luminance such as glaciers or snowfields. Altitude and ultra-violet rays can adversely affect exposures, particularly when measuring incident light with a handheld device. Bracket more widely than normal. A sturdy carbon-fibre tripod is essential.
- Pack a head-torch, not only to help find your way home, but also to see what your camera settings are.
- Graduated filters are essential for holding back the elevated luminance values of skies. You will be camping so, with no means of recharging, it’s essential to have a stock of freshly charged batteries.
Biography: Alfred Gregory
Born in February 1913, Alfred Gregory, FBIPP, Hon FRPS, was a mountaineer, explorer and professional photographer. Prior to the Second World War, he worked with some of the great names in the mountaineering community and enjoyed three alpine seasons before joining the Black Watch to serve. Following this period he spent several years climbing solo in the Alps. He was soon noticed for his ability, and in 1952 was chosen to be a member of an expedition to the Himalayas led by Eric Shipton. The goal was to climb the 26,906ft (8,201m) peak of Cho Oyu. Gregory excelled on the mountain and was chosen for the 1953 expedition to Everest. He climbed to 27,900ft (8,500m) this time and shot some incredible and memorable images of Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. For 20 years he worked freelance for Kodak UK, lecturing and presenting his pictures to large audiences throughout Britain and Europe. His work has been exhibited in the UK, France, Belgium, the US, Africa, Poland and Australia. He died on 9 February 2010 aged 96.
Biography: Earl Carter
Australian photographer Earl Carter has worked as a freelance photographer for more than 30 years. He has travelled all over the world and worked in a variety of locations. In the UK he is represented by Mark George in London. His work for McCann Erickson, BBDO and J Walter Thompson has been used by companies such as British Airways, Conran Design, Sainsbury’s, BBC Worldwide and the Irish Tourist Board. In Europe he is represented by Taverne Agency in the Netherlands. His editorial work is frequently published in magazines such as Elle Décor Italia, Decoration magazine in Germany and Casa Bella. In the US, the Martha Stewart Corporation, Conde Nast and American Express Publications commission the majority of his work. In Australia he is represented by Coco Productions in Melbourne. He shoots for numerous corporations including Commonwealth and ANZ Banks, Rio Tinto, hotels throughout Asia and a variety of cookbooks for both local and international chefs such as Rick Stein, Neil Perry and David Thompson.
This feature is from the June 2010 issue
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