Frozen in time: Rare early images of the Himalayas from Italian pioneer

Vittorio Sella was a pioneering Italian photographer whose work at the turn of the 20th Century   shaped both mountain photography and mountaineering history.

 His rare images of the Himalayas remain some of the most iconic ever captured.

 A new ongoing show in the Indian capital, Delhi, called Vittorio Sella: Photographer in the   Himalaya brings to life the breathtaking grandeur of the Himalayas through his lens.

 Curated by renowned British explorer and author Hugh Thomson and organised by Delhi Art   Gallery (DAG), the show is likely one of the largest collection of Sella's Indian views.

 It features some of the earliest high-altitude photographs of Kanchenjunga, the world's third-   highest mountain, and K2, the world's second-tallest mountain, captured over a century ago.

 Born in Biella, a town known for its wool trade in northern Italy, Sella (1859–1943) made his first ascents in   the nearby Alps.

"Throughout his career Sella made use of his skills in engineering and chemistry that the wool mills and his father had taught him," says Thomson.

By his twenties, he had mastered complex photographic techniques like the collodion process, enabling him to develop large-format glass plates under harsh conditions.

His panoramic images, crafted with technical perfection, earned worldwide acclaim.

Years later, the famous mountaineer-photographer Ansel Adams would write that the "purity of Sella's interpretations move the spectator to a religious awe".

High-altitude photography came with risks - many of Sella's most ambitious shots were ruined when humid conditions caused tissue dividers to stick to the negatives.

Yet those that survived reveal a masterful eye, notes Thomson.

"Sella was one of the first to recognise how tracks in the snow are as much part of the composition as the mountaineers who made them."