In addition to performing advanced neurosurgical procedures or lecturing around the world about spine surgery, Dr. Roger Härtl, director of the Weill Cornell Medicine Center for Comprehensive Spine Care, is an avid outdoorsman and collector of rare photographs. In his spare time, he has put together an exquisite volume of photographs from the very top of the world, recently published by the Grolier Club. The book is available now, and the photos themselves will be on display at the club until May 14.
"Photographs at the Edge: Vittorio Sella and Wilfred Thesiger" is a striking compendium of photographs taken by these two explorers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Photographer and mountaineer Vittorio Sella (1859–1943) specialized in large-format photographs of K2 and other mountains and glaciers around the world; writer and photographer Sir Wilfred Thesiger (1910-2003) focused on the “Empty Quarter” of the Arabian Desert. Together, their stories take us back to the end of the great age of exploration and the dawn of modern photography.
The photographs are on display at the Grolier Club through May 14, 2022. Find out more about the exhibit here, and read Dr. Härtl's essay on what inspired the book.
The book is available at many booksellers. More about the book.
