Fortitudine Vencimus

By Endurance We Conquer.

That was Sir Ernest Shackleton's family motto; fortitudine vencimus. Unbeknownst to him, it would also sum up the most famous event in his life pretty aptly. He christened his ship in these photos Endurance, for obvious reasons.

The both images are photographs (almost certainly taken by Frank Hurley, Shackleton's photographer and a member of his expedition) who had the ingenious idea of flooding the trapped-and-sinking Endurance with lights and photographing it all covered with ice and snow. The image is not inverted -- it is supposed to look this way.

The famous Ad of "Men Wanted" is a bit of a controversy, since the ad itself has never actually been found in print or microfilm, but since it's traditionally associated with Shackleton I decided to make my own. I made this wallpaper for my brother (who is a big Shackleton fan), and he asked me if it was the real ad, so I think I can be satisfied with that!