The marble corridors of Victoria Memorial’s Durbar Hall have taken on the quiet majesty of snow and sky. A historic exhibition of Vittorio Sella’s rarest and best photographs, which feature the world’s highest peaks, including the third-highest Kanchenjunga and the second-tallest K2, will be on display in the hall from 8 August to 7 September 2025.
Curated by the acclaimed British writer and explorer Hugh Thomson, the exhibition offered visitors an insightful glimpse into the thoughts and life of one of the most successful mountaineering chroniclers. Adding to the event’s gravitas, Gilles Tillotson, Senior Vice President of DAG, led a special walkthrough to enhance the event’s solemnity, providing a deeper understanding of Sella’s art and adventures from a scholarly perspective.
Sella, of Italian origin, was raised amidst the pristine alpine town of Biella, where the surrounding peaks had already sparked an early inclination towards climbing. He had already taken to alpinism seriously as a young man, incorporating a strong sense of aesthetics with athletic prowess. His breakthrough came when his photographs from the Alps expedition caught the eye of Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi. From the mist-clad Ruwenzori in central Africa to the uncompromising heights of Mount Godwin Austin and the Karakoram, this early admiration developed into a long-lasting relationship, culminating into a series of joint expeditions.
Tillotson, in his remarks during the walkthrough, emphasised Sella’s dual legacy: not only as a meticulous documentarian of their geological and spatial character, but also as a mountaineer who triumphed over formidable heights. Employing photogrammetry — a technique then at the forefront of surveying — Sella contributed crucial information for the mapping of the Karakoram and Himalayan ranges. His contributions enhanced scientific knowledge of some of the world’s most remote landscapes, transcending mere aesthetic value.
Central to his practice was an indefatigable commitment to technical mastery. Sella developed large-format glass plates using the collodion process, which required endurance and accuracy, particularly in the harsh conditions of high-altitude expeditions. His pioneering use of telephoto lenses captured expansive landscapes and intricate details of rock, ice, and clouds, rendering the resplendence of the mountains to life with startling clarity.
His renowned Kanchenjunga expedition with British explorer Douglas Freshfield in 1899 garnered special attention in the exhibition. The untainted sanctity of the Eastern Himalayas is evoked by the photographs taken during this trip, where ragged ridges stood illuminated by ethereal light. The photographs from the 1909 K2 expedition with the Duke of Abruzzi are equally moving; they capture the bleak geometry of the mountain and the silent vastness of the surrounding glaciers with a restraint that is almost spiritual.
Imported directly from the Sella family archives, these prints have been described by Tillotson as “living relics.” For Indian audiences, they carry a special resonance- a national pride in witnessing the Himalayan giants of their homeland balmed and immortalised through the eyes of an individual who admired them both as an explorer and artist. The pictures of the snow-clad slopes of Kanchenjunga have drawn visitors in, many having commented on the sense of calm they seem to exude.
Sella’s work, however, ventured far beyond the Himalayas. His photographs of Mount Ruwenzori’s melting glaciers in Central Africa even stand today as vital charters of environmental change and of cultural and historical significance. Like those of the high Asian ranges, these photographs combine a documentarian’s vision with compositional elegance to capture timeless yet imperilled landscapes. “Sella carried delicate glass plates into the thin air of the Himalayas and returned with images that remain unsurpassed in clarity and spirit in an era devoid of colour film and digital convenience,” Tillotson remarked.
Though he remains under-recognised compared to some of his peers, the exhibition argues that Sella’s vision merits fresh praise. His climbing boots and camera, which are currently on display at the Photographic Institute in Biella, bear witness to a life spent pursuing both artistic expression and altitude. In honour of the 82nd anniversary of his passing on 12 August, this exhibition in Kolkata is more than just a retrospective; it is a celebration of a man who, with extraordinary grace, brought together the fields of science, photography, and exploration.
In the hushed magnanimity of the Durbar Hall, as dusk settles upon the images of the sky-piercing peaks, Sella’s works transcend time and space. Although the mountains he ascended still stand high, they have acquired a permanence that soars above snow and stone, thanks to his perspective. For visitors this month, the journey is measured not in miles or metres, but in the depth of one man’s gaze.