TOKYO-2017 Book / People

The Climbers

  • Prize
    Silver in Book/Documentary, Gold in Book/People
  • Photographer
    Jim Herrington

For nearly two decades Jim Herrington has worked on a portrait series of legendary climbers. The result is The Climbers, a collection of sixty black-and-white photographs, shot on analog film, that document these rugged individualists, including the likes of Royal Robbins, Chris Bonington, Reinhold Messner, and Junko Tabei. Between the 1920s and 1970s, determined men and women used primitive gear along with their considerable wits, talent, and fortitude to tackle unscaled peaks around the world. In these images, Herrington has captured their humanity, obsession, intellect, and frailty.