Bradford Washburn American, 1910-2007

Bradford Washburn was an American, internationally renowned photographer, cartographer, and expert on Alaska's mountains and glaciers. He was Director of Boston's Museum of Science for over forty years and served as Honoury Director until his death in January 2007. A pioneer of arial photography, his images of mountains are majestic, serene and sublime and his photographic work spans over six decades. Working primarily with his Fairchild K-6 large format aerial camera using 8" roll film, the technical and aesthetic quality of his images are exquisite. Washburn concentrated particularly on the mountains of the Yukon region of North America, producing on of his best-known maps of Mount McKinley in 1960.

Washburn was a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, London's Royal Geographical Society and a leading authority on Alaska's mountains and glaciers. In 1988, Washburn and his wife Barbara were honoured with the Centennial Medal of the National Geographic Society.  Washburn is responsible for the creation of definitive maps of Mount McKinley, the Grand Canyon, Mount Everest and New Hampshire's Presidential Range. He was a member of the 1992 survey team that made the first laser measurement on top of Mount Everest.