Heinrich Harrer Limited Edition Portfolio: Frequently Asked Questions

The Portfolio is the first fine art collection of Heinrich Harrer's rare photographs. The Portfolio includes:

Ten silver gelatin photographs, archivally printed from the original negatives, signed and numbered in pencil on the verso by Heinrich Harrer
A personal Message signed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Letterpress-printed text featuring an original essay, caption information, an epilogue in three languages—English, Tibetan and German
An exquisitely designed, handcrafted presentation case

How many Portfolios are in the edition?

The Heinrich Harrer Limited Edition Portfolio is an edition of 50, plus five Artist's Proof portfolios.

Three images from the Portfolio are available as individual photographs. The individual photographs are:

Signed by Heinrich Harrer, these individual 16 x 20-inch (40.6 x 50.8 cm) photographs are mounted in 20 x 24-inch (50.8 x 61 cm) mats. Each edition is limited to 25 photogaphs.

Yes. The Fourteenth Dalai Lama has individually signed a personal Message that is included with each Portfolio.

Yes. The first portfolio (1/50) is a gift to His Holiness the Dalai Lama for his private collection. A donation equivalent to the sale of a second Portfolio has been contributed to His Holiness, to be used for the preservation of Tibetan culture and religion. In addition, a percentage of the net profits from the Portfolio sales will be donated to a Tibetan project through the Office of the Dalai Lama.

Yes. The United States Library of Congress Asian Division, Harvard University Fine Arts Library, Cornell University Carl A. Kroch Library, Columbia University East Asian C. V. Starr Library and the American Alpine Club have acquired the Portfolio, thus ensuring that the photographs will be preserved by these eminent institutions.

For the current price quote of the Portfolio or the individual photographs, please contact Portfolio publisher Leslie DiRusso at dirusso@harrerportfolio.com.

For more information or to arrange an appointment to view the Portfolio or the individual photographs, please contact the Portfolio publisher Leslie DiRusso at dirusso@harrerportfolio.com.

These photographs were taken in Tibet between 1948 and March 1951. The principal camera was a 35mm Leica IIIc with a 50mm Elmar lens, without a light meter. The primary film was a 100-meter roll of 35mm black-and-white motion-picture film left in Lhasa by a 1938 German expedition. Two of the photographs (The Holy Relics and Khampa Warriors) were shot with a medium-format camera (manufacturer unknown) and black-and-white 120 roll film (source unknown). The film was processed in Darjeeling, India, in 1951.

Heinrich Harrer’s body of work spanned more than six decades of exploration on six continents. Heinrich Harrer was a world-renowned explorer and mountaineer who became known for his first accent of the North Face of the Eiger as part of an Austrian-German team in 1938. Harrer’s memoir, Seven Years in Tibet, has been translated into 53 languages and has sold more than four million copies. He received numerous honors, including the Eiger Gold Medal, Gold Humboldt Medal and the Explorers Club Medal for his many expedition and explorations, which number more than 600. Harrer wrote 23 books and received credit on more than 40 film productions, including Tristar’s feature film, Seven Years in Tibet.

Mementoes of Heinrich Harrer’s adventurous life are on display at the Heinrich Harrer Museum in Hüttenberg, Austria, officially open by the Dalai Lama in 1992. (www.harrermuseum.at)

In October 2002, His Holiness the Dalai Lama presented Heinrich Harrer with the International Campaign for Tibet's Light of Truth Award to honor Harrer’s humanitarian effort to bring the situation in Tibet to international attention.

Heinrich Harrer died on January 7, 2006. In the Dalai Lama’s message of condolence to Harrer’s widow, Carina, His Holiness expressed deep sadness and gratitude for Harrer’s advocacy on behalf of the Tibetan people:

Great care has been taken to ensure that the photographs in the Heinrich Harrer Limited Edition Portfolio have been archivally processed. This includes developing and fixing the image and washing and drying the print to obtain maximum stability.

The photographs were split printed from Heinrich Harrer's original negatives with an Aristo Variable Contrast cold light.

The photographs were printed on Ilford Multigrade IV, 11 x 14-inch (27.9 x 35.6 cm), double-weight fiber paper. All photographs were developed in a classic glycin formula, toned in selenium, treated in two acid-neutralizing baths, and finally washed for two hours in a vertical archival washer. They were air-dried face up on plastic screens without the application of heat.

The Portfolio photographs are 11 x 14-inches (27.9 x 35.6 cm) in 4-ply 16 x 20-inch (40.6 x 50.8 cm) mats by Rising Paper Company.

The individual photographs are 16 x 20-inches (40.6 x 50.8 cm) in 20 x 24-inch (50.8 x 61 cm), 4-ply or 8-ply mats.

The clamshell presentation box is 21.5 x 22 x 2-inches (54.6 x 56 x 5 cm) and weighs approximately 25 pounds with the photographs.

The presentation and storage case is designed to provide an environment beneficial to the preservation of the archival photographs. The clamshell design allows the top and bottom to lie flat, which gives easy access to the photographs. The photographs are housed in 4-ply 100% rag mats made by Rising Paper Company. All paper elements in the Portfolio are acid-free.