Searching for Anchor Points: Developing Artistic Practice Through Revisiting the Challenger Expedition

Abstract

HMS Challenger (1872-1876) was a British research vessel that voyaged around the world recording data about the oceans and what they contained. Alongside the specimen jars and scientific reports, the expedition produced over 500 photographs that documented the people and places encountered. Having an official photographer and an official artist in addition to a number of visually talented officers and crewmembers, the Challenger photographs were part of an economy of images occurring both at each port of call and within the confines of the ship. In the contemporary economy of images, the contributions of artists and photographers are joined by the contributions of the prosumer (Toffler, 1980), the creative class (Florida, 2002), the produser (Bruns, 2008), the net photographer (Muller-Pohle, 2010) and the net generation (Tapscott, 2009). Furthermore, consumers are increasingly engaged in a process of creatively destroying and reconstructing their identities (Bauman, 2008), leaving photographic artists with an unclear role. This paper explores how the visual contributions of the Challenger expedition have been central to developments in this researcher's fine art photographic practice. Adopting an autobiographical tone, it invites discussion on the role of photographic artists within the contemporary economy of images and its many creative participants.