I attended a photo event at the Royal Geographical Society (London) a few weeks ago, and had a sneak glimpse of a new exhibition that the RGS was setting up.
Entitled "Rivers of Ice: Vanishing Glaciers of the Greater Himalaya", it provided a worrying insight into the impact of climate change in the Himalayan mountains. US photographer, filmmaker and mountaineer David Breashears has put together a collection of works to compare his contemporary images with historical photographs taken over the past century, to show changes in the landscape and the dramatic glacial loss that has taken place in this region.
Even if you're not a green or eco-person, the exhibition is still well worth a visit as it shows some stunning mountain images taken by pioneering alpine photographers and explorers from the 1920s such as Major E.O. Wheeler, George Mallory, and Vittorio Sella.
Details of the exhibition can be found here.
Photos: Top: This striking image taken by David Breashears' team of mountaineers shows snow peaks like cake icing leading to the base of the Rongbuk Glacier in the Himalayan mountains. It was inspired by archived photographs taken 80 years ago; Bottom: This photograph shows the main Rongbuk Glacier in the Himalayan mountains, Tibet as it was in 1921, covered in snow and ice and in sharp contrast to the landscape today.
Photos: Top: Snow but mostly rock: The team's image shows the Kyetrak Glacier in the Himalayan mountain range in Tibet and clearly illustrates the different conditions at altitude compared with the area more than 80 years ago. Bottom: A black and white photograph of the same region in Tibet and dated from 1921 reveals just how much the region has changed and what the impact has been of global warming on the area.
Comments
The BBC website has a great slide show using some of these photographs: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-15216875