Summit: Vittorio Sella

stunning and lovingly produced commemoration of Vittorio Sella’s mountain
photography from 1879 – 1909: This book is a careful reproduction of some of
the best black-and-white landscape photography ever collectedAthe work of
Vittorio Sella. A courageous photographer and mountaineer, Sella climbed peaks
on three continents to record stunning views at the top of the world; this
book should make us grateful that he hauled heavy photography equipment on
those ascents. The strength of this volume is its collection of images: tucked
and rolling glaciers, unyielding mountains that seem to run in an infinite
sequence from close to distant, and deep gaps full of the treachery of
silence. The absolute clarity of the portraits demonstrates this climber’s
mastery of his medium. The images here look bold and contemporary: pure
gatherings of white (snow), black (jagged peaks and ledges blocking sun), and
various greys (clouds, shadows, and crevices).