Join The Explorers Club on October 28th to delve into the legacies of two intrepid photographers – Vittorio Sella and Wilfred Thesiger, two explorers who pushed through some of Earth’s most difficult terrain to document the extremes of our planet.
Two explorers from the early-mid 20th century —Vittorio Sella and Wilfred Thesiger—matched unparalleled energy in exploration with mastery in photography, creating remarkable documents of some of the world’s most extreme terrain. This lecture tells the story of two men working at a pivotal moment – when true geographic exploration was coming to an end and photography was beginning to take shape.
Vittorio Sella (1859–1943, Italy), was the leading mountain photographer in his days. His most consequential work was done in 1909 exploring and documenting K2.
Sir Wilfred Thesiger (1910 – 2003, England) was a British author and explorer. Thesiger’s greatest journey was crossing the Empty Quarter (EQ), a desert on the Arabian Peninsula. On camels and with a few Bedouins, he made 2 crossings between 1946 and 1948.
Sella and Thesiger documented the far reaches of the earth with extraordinary artistry. Drawing from the collections of Dr. Roger Härtl, this lecture reveals the intrepid spirit and documentary skill of these two explorers.
This in-person event at the Explorers Club Headquarters will include an audience Q&A.
Streaming live here on explorers.org, our YouTube Channel, and our Facebook Live — Wednesday, October 28th at 7:00 pm ET.
RESERVATIONS
This will be an in-person lecture at Explorers Club Headquarters.
In-person tickets are $20 for Members, and $35 for the General Public.
Check-in will begin at 6:00 pm, with a beer and wine reception from 6:00 – 7:00 pm
Dr. Roger Härtl MR'17
Roger Härtl, MD, is the Hansen-MacDonald Professor of Neurological Surgery and Director of Spinal Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, Och Spine at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.
Dr. Härtl is the founder of the Weill Cornell Tanzania Neurosurgical Initiative, a pioneering effort aimed at training neurosurgeons and enhancing neurosurgical capabilities in East Africa for over 15 years. His commitment to global health and education has made a lasting impact in the region.
Originally from family roots in the Dolomites and Bavaria, Dr. Härtl developed a passion for skiing and climbing from a young age. His adventurous spirit and career as a neurosurgeon have afforded him opportunities to explore diverse landscapes around the world. Notably, he has traversed the Sahara Desert multiple times and recently returned from a journey to K2 base camp.
Beyond his professional and adventurous pursuits, Dr. Härtl nurtures a keen interest in collecting. His collection includes original books and photographs focusing on the great explorers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Of particular fascination to him are individuals who approached geographic exploration with an artist’s perspective.
As photographer Paolo Pellegrin has written, “art allows for the documentation of the alien with truth rather than conquest.” The works of mountaineer and photographer Vittorio Sella (1859–1943) and desert traveler and author Wilfred Thesiger (1910–2003) are central to his collection.
Dr. Härtl continues to push the boundaries of neurological surgery while fostering connections between medical communities worldwide. His multidimensional approach to life reflects a deep-seated curiosity and a commitment to bridging cultural and intellectual divides through exploration and scholarship.
