Frederick A. Cook: the role of photography in the making of his polar explorer-hero image

• Published in: Polar Record
• Main Author: Millar, P
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press 2014
• Subjects: History and Archaeology; Historical Studies; Historical Studies not elsewhere classified; Antarctic; Arctic; Antarc*; Polar Record
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0032247414000424; http://ecite.utas.edu.au/93002

This paper aims to show how the photography of Frederick A. Cook (18651940) played an importantrole in the making of his polar explorer-hero image. It considers portraits and Arctic and Antarctic photographs thatCook used in his own publications and illustrated lectures, and which he provided for press articles. The paper isunderpinned by discourse analysis and the concept of the photograph as a representation of reality filtered throughvarious lenses. The visual impact and discursive messages of the photographs were aimed at situating readers andaudiences in responsive attitudes that would generate a public persona which he exploited to increase his fame andheroic reputation. In time, Cooks photography also played a critical part in the collapse of the hero image.