Colours Of Antarctica

The deep greens of McMurdo Sound sea-ice algae, brilliant glacial blues of Mt Erebus, and every shade of white imaginable – the colours of Antarctica have come to life as they dance across the walls of Leica Galleries in Melbourne and Sydney, all thanks to a New Zealand artist.

Internationally renowned photographer Stu Robertson has been chosen to exhibit for the grand opening of the brand-new Leica gallery in Melbourne – the largest in the world. He took his grandfather's Leica lenses to the ice in 2015 and again 2018 as part of Antarctica New Zealand’s Community Engagement Programme. The result is exquisite.

Robertson’s exhibition ‘Colours of Antarctica’ examines the stark contrast of sky against ice to the subtle hues of melt pools against frozen pressure ridges.

“It’s such an honour to be chosen for the gallery opening. Curating this collection has been a labour of love, each image a chapter in a profound journey. Visiting Antarctica was truly life-changing, and the result is an emotional exploration that I hope will resonate deeply with everyone who sees it,” he says.

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Antarctic and Art lovers don’t have to travel to Melbourne (or Antarctica) to see the breathtaking panoramas. Robertson has also just published a book under the same name as the exhibition, to launch alongside the opening. Colours of Antarctica presents 288 pages of epic Antarctic imagery and includes 10 fold-out panoramic vistas. Stitched into the binding is a 24-page book on the McMurdo Historic Huts, which features mainly black and white images of Nimrod, Terra Nova and Discovery Huts.

Robertson will sponsor a Masters Scholarship through Antarctica New Zealand – supporting the next generation of Antarctic scientists to make valuable contributions to the understanding of Antarctic and global ecosystems and processes. To do this, he has partnered with Glorious Digital for a limited-edition release of his Antarctic works that launch on September 25th and are available for only eight days. Once the edition is closed, there will never be any other digital options of those images.

The new Leica gallery launch is on 12 September in Melbourne. The Sydney Leica store exhibition opens on September 13th.

• Antarctica New Zealand’s Community Engagement Programme offers a rare opportunity to gain firsthand experience of one of the most remote and pristine places on Earth. Artists, educators, writers and media visit Antarctica as our guests, and bring the message of New Zealand’s Antarctic science and how we support it back to New Zealand. Applications for the 2025/26 summer season are now open, with proposals accepted until 5pm on 1 October 2024.

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