Here’s why Cunard is celebrating history with photographs!

This week Cunard launched a special photographic exhibition to celebrate a centenary of photography taken aboard their ships. The occasion acknowledges the introduction of onboard photographers, who have been sailing with Cunard’s ships since 1923. — Chapters — 00:00 Cunard Centenary of Photography 00:37 Laconia World Cruise 01:14 QE2 World Cruise 01:29 Cunard World Cruising Today 01:49 Queen Elizabeth 02:11 Water Spout 🌪️ 02:15 Queen Victoria 02:33 Queen Mary 2 — Throughout a century of shipboard photography, many unique moments have been captured aboard Cunard ships. From images of one of the modern Queens visiting a new port of call, to interior shots of the transatlantic liners, to dramatic photographs taken of troops during World War II, photography has captured both joy and danger from the decks of these ships. The launch of Cunard’s photographic exhibit coincides with the 100th anniversary of their first ever world cruise. Undertaken aboard the Laconia, the voyage departed in late 1922 and sailed through the early months of 1923. Run in partnership with American Express, the first Cunard world cruise sailed completely in the northern hemisphere – venturing only as far south as Panama and Singapore. However, it did encircle the world, and included transits of both the Panama Canal and Suez Canal. That first world cruise proved so popular that another Cunard world cruise aboard Samaria set sail in 1923. In the 1970s, Cunard’s world cruise presence was bolstered when their then-flagship QE2 commenced regular world cruises. She was joined on the world cruise circuit by other Cunarders including Sagafjord and later Royal Viking Sun. Today all three Cunard Queens undertake long duration global voyages. I was lucky enough to sail recently aboard all three Queens as a guest lecturer, speaking about Cunard’s long and illustrious history. Given the centenary of world cruising as well as the centenary of photography aboard Cunard ships, I thought it would be fun to share with you a few of my best snaps from the three Queens. Queen Elizabeth – we sailed from Sydney on a cruise around New Zealand in January. I particularly liked seeing the ship docked at Lyttleton, near Christchurch. I actually called in here on my first ever cruise aboard QE2 back in the 90s, so the visit was full of nostalgia for me. Queen Elizabeth also looked impressive in Tauranga. While we sailed back to Australia, we were followed by a water spout, which was pretty exciting! Queen Victoria – on this short cruise, we sailed from the Bay of Islands to Sydney. Queen Victoria looked particularly impressive at anchor in the Bay of Islands. When we arrived into Sydney, we witnessed a special drone light show before berthing at Circular Quay. It was great to see Queen Victoria near the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Queen Mary 2 – one of my all time favourite ships, it was fantastic to be back aboard Queen Mary 2 after a three year hiatus. As many of you will know, I was aboard QM2 when the global cruise shutdown commenced, so it was great to be back and see things running so well aboard the ship. There are so many wonderful things to see aboard this ship, and I loved taking photos of QM2’s bridge and bow, as well as watching the remarkable sunset that I captured while we were at anchor off Busselton. If you want to check out the full Cunard anniversary photographic exhibition, I’ve linked it here: https://www.cunard.com/en-au/inspiration/sea-views It’s worth checking out. I’m also keen to know what your favourite Cuanrd ship is to photograph and video, and feel free to share links to your photos in the comment. -- Photo Support with thanks to my good mate Luke Morrison and to my co-authors and friends Rob Henderson & Doug Cramer. -- Learn More: 🚢 My Cunard History Website: https://www.chriscunard.com/ 📚 Buy my books: https://www.chrisframe.com.au/books 👕 Buy cruise merch: https://chrisframeofficial.Teemill.com/ 🎶 Listen to The Big Cruise Podcast: https://www.thebigcruisepodcast.com/ #cunard #queenmary2 #qm2 #cruisenews #photography #photos #qe2 #queenvictoria #queenelizabeth — Arrow: Jesse Pinkman. CC. By Attribution / The Noun Project Thumb: Luke Morrison with thanks.