In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Cornell geology professor Ralph Stockmann Tarr led expeditions with his students to Alaska and Greenland to study and photograph their breathtaking glaciers. Captured on fragile plate glass negatives, Tarr’s images survive today as records of glacial landscapes that have since retreated or vanished due to climate change.
Tarr’s early photographs are part of a Cornell University Library exhibition “Rivers of Ice: Three Centuries of Glacial Science” featuring books, maps and other visual materials related to the study of glaciers and the Earth’s shifting climate, drawn from the library’s Rare and Manuscripts Collection. The exhibition opens with a reception on Sept. 17, 5:30 p.m., at the Hirshland Exhibition Gallery of Carl A. Kroch Library.
Stein Glacier in the Swiss Alps.
Also showcased in the exhibition are works of environmentalist photographer James Balog, a returning A.D. White Professor-at-Large, who will deliver the talk “Chasing Ice on a Changing Planet” at 4:30 p.m. in the Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall, as part of the exhibition opening.
Balog’s talk and his photographs on display feature his work on the Extreme Ice Survey, a project he started in 2007 that deployed time-lapse cameras and ground-based photography to capture the effects of climate change on glaciers around the world. To date, the survey is the largest of its kind.
“What makes his work so compelling is that he combines the rigor of long-term scientific observation with the eye of an artist,” said Katherine Reagan, the Ernest L. Stern ’56 Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts, who co-curated the exhibition.
“The resulting images don’t just tell us that glaciers are shrinking; they allow us to see that loss for ourselves.”
The library exhibition also highlights several images and text related to Iceland, including sagas from the Middle Ages where the island’s glaciers and volcanic landscape are described.
“Another notable resource that contributes significantly to ‘Rivers of Ice’ is the cache of close to 400 photographs, chiefly by Frederick W. W. Howell, that depict Iceland at the close of the 19th century,” said Patrick J. Stevens, curator of the Fiske Icelandic Collection, who co-curated the exhibition.
“Howell’s images of Icelandic glaciers are dramatic and conceivably retain potential for interpreting glacial change,” he said. “There is a direct line between the aesthetically perceptive photography of Howell and the far more scientific observations through the lens of James Balog a century later.”
“Rivers of Ice” runs through August 2027. The exhibition is funded through the support of the Stephen E. ’59 and Evalyn Edwards ’60 Milman Exhibition Fund and the Richard N. Sukenik Fund for Excellence in Photography in Cornell University Library, with additional contributions from the Andrew D. White Professors-at-Large Program.
“Rivers of Ice” is part of a series of exhibits titled “From the Brink: Contributions to a Sustainable Future from across Cornell,” hosted by unit libraries of Cornell University Library in partnership with departments and groups on campus.
Jose Beduya is staff writer and editor for Cornell University Library.
