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Vittorio Sella: Photographer in the Himalaya

Vittorio Sella: Photographer in the Himalaya

Vittorio Sella: Photographer in the Himalaya

Vittorio Sella: Photographer in the Himalaya - DAG World

Vittorio Sella: Photographer in the Himalaya

Victoria Memorial Hall

Kolkata, 8 Aug - 13 Sep 2025

An exhibition by DAG in collaboration with Victoria Memorial Hall.

About The Exhibition Exhibition View Publications Partners

Vittorio Sella (1859-1943) was a pioneer who transformed mountain photography and left behind some of the most iconic images of the Himalaya.

Born into a cultured family in the northern Italian town of Biella, Sella made his first ascents in the nearby Alps. Mastering arduous photographic techniques like the collodion process allowed him to develop large format glass plates in the field under punishing conditions. His multi-plate panoramas achieved unprecedented clarity and emotional resonance, and he began to attract worldwide respect from institutions like the Alpine Club.

Sella's introduction to the Himalayan realm came in 1899 when he accompanied British explorer Douglas Freshfield's expedition circumnavigating Kangchenjunga. Though their summit ambitions were thwarted by heavy snowfall, Sella seized the opportunity to create portraits of the peaks dusted by pristine powder snow – earning the later admiration of Ansel Adams, who would write that ‘the purity of Sella's interpretations move the spectator to a religious awe’. Sella’s most pivotal and fruitful partnership was his friendship with the Duke of Abruzzi. Their expedition to K2 in 1909 was the culmination of Sella’s career, and again produced some outstanding images which are presented here.

The guest curator is the distinguished British filmmaker, explorer and writer Hugh Thomson.

Kangchenjunga, 1899

In 1899, Vittorio Sella joined the British explorer Douglas Freshfield for a circumnavigation of Kangchenjunga, the third highest peak in the world, and one that remained unclimbed until 1955.

Kangchenjunga is a great mountain not only in height but in presence, dominating Sikkim, and the excited Sella responded with an exemplary set of prints, helped by the way a recent snowfall had dusted the mountains with the Himalayan equivalent of make-up. This was a superb introduction to the highest abodes of the world, as the mountain lies between India, Nepal and Tibet, so vistas opened up into every country. The Freshfield expedition had to make a crossing of the 20,200-foot pass of the Jonsong-La to enter southern Tibet, a test of high altitude which Sella seems to have passed with aplomb, along with accompanying snowstorms and the usual difficulties of any expedition with extended supply lines.

Kangchenjunga was a complicated destination at the time. The British were in dispute with Tibet about what they perceived as the undue Russian influence in Lhasa, and were determined to force open trade routes. Freshfield, the leader of the expedition, was a supporter of the British position and of Younghusband, who later led the infamous punitive raid on Tibet in 1904.

K2, 1909

Sella’s final journey with his friend and patron, the Duke of Abruzzi, was their most spectacular and ambitious. In 1909, they travelled to the Karakoram beyond the western Himalaya to attempt the second highest mountain in the world, one which has since achieved a fearsome reputation: K2. This expedition has a place in mountaineering history as one of the first to venture into the most extreme peaks of Asia. Well led and organised, it did not suffer some of the terrible deaths of subsequent expeditions.

They managed to get as high as 19,685 feet on the ridge to the Southeast (now known as the Abruzzi Ridge); the Duke himself continued even higher on Chogolisa (Bride Peak) nearby to set a world record for altitude at the time of 24,600 feet. There is a thread of complaint in Sella’s journals, written at the time, about the way in which the Duke – perhaps understandably – sometimes prioritised the needs of the expedition over those of photography. The two have diametrically opposed dynamics: the need for urgency to reach the next camp during available daylight hours, as opposed to the need to wait for the right weather for photography, let alone set up a shot.

By now Sella was fifty: an experienced and accomplished photographer in his prime. The images he captured on and around the virgin landscape of K2 are some of his finest.
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Sella was known for his extraordinary toughness, traversing the Alps at remarkable speed despite carrying heavy photographic gear.
His makeshift camera harness and boots - three times heavier than modern ones - are preserved at the Photographic Institute in Biella.
His clothing alone weighed over 10kg, while his camera equipment, including a Dallmeyer camera, tripod, and plates, added another 30kg - more than today's airline baggage limits.

'Frozen in time: Rare early images of the Himalayas from Italian pioneer', BBC, 9 February 2025

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