Long Exposure: Men & Mountains from the Dawn of Alpinism at the Alpine Club in London features photographs by William Abney, Sydney Spencer, George Finch and Frank Smythe from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It includes portraits of some of the first professional guides to operate in the Alps, as well as images of early climbers in action on the range’s most famous peaks.
The rare images were discovered in late 2025 in the Alpine Club’s basement archive, in the form of glass and celluloid negatives. These have now been made into stunning prints by Belgian printing and publishing house Salto Ulbeek, using the platinum-palladium process.
Commenting on the discovery of the prints, Alpine Club President Duncan Sperry said: ‘It is astonishing to see scenes of Alpine mountaineering from the 19th century brought to life in this way. The public are inclined to think of that period as one of conformist Victorian gentlemen, but these photographs reveal how similar they were to the adventurous climbers of today; leaping crevasses, posing on rock spikes and navigating the tangled masses of imposing glaciers.’
The prints are on display at the Alpine Club’s Shoreditch premises at 55 Charlotte Road, EC2A 3QF until 30 October. Visits to the exhibition can be booked via the Alpine Club website, while the full selection of images is available to view online at salto-ulbeek.com/alpineclub.