In searching for another mountain climbing photographer, I found a forefather of both tasks that intrigues me. I can't find much info on him because every website I've come across seems to have the same quick list of basic info about him. There are a couple of books on him I would like to try and find though. Actually, the more in-depth information I found about him came from reviews of one book. His name is Vittorio Sella. He was an Italian, born near the Alps in 1859. His father was a photographer, and his uncle was a famous mountaineer. It seems that he took training and interest in both and just ran with them.

His photographs are breathtaking; literally. He was determined to take his camera equipment, which at the time weighed over 40 pounds, up to the summit of mountains where oxygen was thin and it wasn't uncommon for people to perish. He not only made amazing first ascents in mountain climbing, he did it all while lugging up twice the weight of what anyone else would. The shots are great in a documentary sense, for being unattainable by anyone else at the time, but also in their artistic rights as well. (Every site I went to was quick to point out that Ansel Adams always had flattering things to say about him.) Even in black and white he's able to show great detail in the mountains and really present them as how grand and sometimes frightening they are. And something that I really like about his collection of work is that he was more apt to include people in some of his photos. The other couple pioneers of mountain photography I came across rarely ever included humans in the shots. It makes sense not to, they didn't climb all that way just to take pictures of the same people that started on the ground with them. But now, 130 years later, it is very interesting to see who was climbing back then. And more so, seeing a lone person in some of these shots of giant mountains is jaw dropping, and left me staring at them for a few minutes. Seeing a picture of someone on a summit today, in a bright red NorthFace jacket, $200 goggles, iron clad, triple-buckled boots, and the latest climbing ropes and beners, isn't always that impressive. I've seen hundreds before. Seeing some poor fool do it with next to no technology gives a totally different feeling.

http://metro.co.uk/2008/06/30/frozen-in-time-the-mountain-photography-of-vittorio-sella-227881/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vittorio_Sella