Portraits of Place: Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station

O'Boyle Shaun, Dalton MA

Investigators

Abstract

Portraits of Place at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station is a comprehensive photographic study of the station buildings, infrastructure and landscapes of the South Pole. The goal of this detailed photographic study is to advance knowledge about this remote location and the scientific research taking place there. The project's emphasis is on the scientific hardware at the Pole, which is providing new understanding of our planet and universe. By giving an overall picture of the station, and then capturing details of the station, this project will provide a window for the public to understand the physical aspects of being and working at the South Pole: not only the weather, the extreme cold, and the infrastructure required to live there, but the major instruments deployed for the various major science projects and the researchers who operate and maintain them. Seeing the physical objects that make the science possible makes the science more tangible and illustrates the depth of the science and engineering required to accomplish the research that is unique to the Pole. Photographic subjects at the South Pole will include the telescopes and other observational instruments, the buildings that house them, and the landscapes that surround them. This will include visually describing the specialized instruments used in astronomy, physics, cosmology and climate studies, and capturing their unique physical qualities as objects. Working with project scientists and researchers, scheduled visits will be made to photograph individual sites in the Dark Sector, Clean Air Sector, and Quiet Sector. An effort will be made to visually describe and emphasize the remote harsh nature of the environment of the station and the infrastructure and redundant systems required to work and survive there. Photographs will be available for public viewing through a number of media, including a takeover of the Smithsonian Magazine's Instagram feed for a week while in Antarctica, blog posts to popantarctica.wordpress.com, photographs posted to two websites, shaunoboylephoto.com and oboylephoto.com, and an exhibition of prints at the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum in the fall of 2020 including presentations to students. In addition, a book is planned of the photographer's work from visits to all three U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP) stations. Exhibitions and presentations will include the photographs paired with images or data from the science instruments photographed along with the words of the scientists. This convergence between art and science has the potential to strengthen the artwork and presents the science in a new context, underlining the synergy between the objects and tools of science, the scientific results, and the unique place where the science takes place. Portraits of Place at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station is an Antarctic Artists and Writers project supported by NSF's Office of Polar Programs. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.