History's hidden helpers

Captain Noel and kinematograph camera with large telephoto lens established on the Chang La [North Col] at 23,000 ft. (1922) Using a specially modified camera, John Noel captured climbing scenes with a twenty inch telephoto lens. In this picture, a partially hidden Sherpa helps to balance it. The unidentified photographer who took this was probably another porter. http://www.rgs.org/HiddenHistories Photograph: Unknown/guardian.co.uk

A Malay native of Batavia at Coepang (Thomas Baines, 1856. Oil on canvas) This portrait of Mohammed Jen Jamain, a former magistrate, was sketched in oils at Kupang in Timor, by Thomas Baines, expedition artist. Having made an initial portrait in watercolour (Mohammed Jen Jamain, His Own Signature), Baines asked his subject to return wearing more authentically Malay clothes: the result he painted in oils, though he still complained about Jen Jamain's European shoes. Baines was employed as an artist and storekeeper on RGS expeditions to Australia (1855-7) and the Zambesi (1858-9). http://www.rgs.org/HiddenHistories Photograph: guardian.co.uk

Portraits of selected members of the 1936 Everest expedition (JML Gavin) A page from a 1936 Everest album includes many Sherpas who took part in the expedition, wearing their newly issued identity discs. Interpreter Karma Paul is in the third row, fourth from the right, next to expedition leader Hugh Ruttledge. A young Tenzing Norgay is in the fourth row, first on the left. http://www.rgs.org/HiddenHistories Photograph: guardian.co.uk

Camp II on the East Rongbuk glacier (Hugh Ruttledge, 1936) Records do not always reflect the hard physical labour and extreme danger involved in major climbing expeditions. http://www.rgs.org/HiddenHistories Photograph: guardian.co.uk

'Ikmalick and Apelagliu' J Brandard after a drawing by John Ross. (Lithograph in J.Ross. Narrative of a second voyage in search of a North-West passage. London 1835) Many European and American navigators searching for the North-West passage relied on Inuit for supplies and directions. Inuit charts were reproduced in expedition reports, including the map depicted here as being drawn in the cabin of John Ross' ship, then stuck in the ice. http://www.rgs.org/HiddenHistories Photograph: guardian.co.uk

Some of the Zanzibar and other natives of Mr H.M. Stanley's party (Catherine Frances Frere, 1877) Expedition parties often included women, but their names were rarely documented. Unusually, this sketch of the women in Henry Morton Stanley's trans-African expedition party, by Catherine Frere, the daughter of a notable colonial governor (who signed her own initials in the form of notes on a treble stave), makes careful note of their names (the first two being the men): 1. Robert 2. Mnyasanee 3. Ooladie 4. Najuara 5. Amayshay 6. Hassina 7. Badazeakce 8. Baetameesie 9. Hamiawuzee 10. Bintilamazanee 11. Mamiamisie 12. Iyaiya 13. Mamijuma 14. Mamihassan. http://www.rgs.org/HiddenHistories Photograph: guardian.co.uk

Uledi, coxswain. Being an excellent swimmer, he saved many lives (Lily Frere, 1877) Lily Frere's 1877 sketch of a Zanzibari muslim called Uledi, who worked for Stanley on all his major African expeditions, notes simply that his ability as a swimmer had 'saved many lives'. Traces of such encounters are scattered throughout the RGS-IBG Collections. http://www.rgs.org/HiddenHistories Photograph: guardian.co.uk

The path to Kaieteur, carrying the batteau past the Amutu cateract (Everard Im Thurn/C.F Norton 1878) The navigation of rivers in British Guiana required overland transport of boats in order to bypass cataracts and see such spectacular views as this of the Kaieteur Falls. http://www.rgs.org/HiddenHistories Photograph: guardian.co.uk

Juan Tepano, from Clan Tupahotu, Rapa Nui (Katherine Routledge, 1915) Quaker ethnologist Katherine Routledge used Juan Tepano as her most important source of knowledge during her researches on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) in 1914-15. Tepano had previously served in the Chilean military and was a respected figure on the island. He helped her interview the locals about their legends and oral histories. http://www.rgs.org/HiddenHistories Photograph: guardian.co.uk

British Museum Easter Island collection (Katherine Routledge, unknown date, notebook, two pages with photographs). Katherine Routledge used interviews with Rapa Nui residents to re-interpret ethnographic materials gathered by previous travellers. She recorded local testimony in her notebooks, alongside photographs of artefacts from the British Museum. http://www.rgs.org/HiddenHistories Photograph: guardian.co.uk

An island passage of the River Amazon (L.Haghe after a drawing by William Smyth. Lithograph in W.Smyth and F. Lowe, Narrative of a journey from Lima to Para, across the Andes and down the Amazon, London 1836) Exploration in many parts of the world involved employing indigenous guides and navigators. http://www.rgs.org/HiddenHistories Photograph: guardian.co.uk

The RGS map room, 1 Savile Row (Bedford Lemere, 1912) From its foundation in 1830, the RGS aimed to establish major collections of material relating to geographical knowledge. The way these collections were organised and exhibited reflected the priorities of the time. Nonetheless, traces of other lives and histories can be glimpsed through these materials. http://www.rgs.org/HiddenHistories Photograph: guardian.co.uk