(Not for his dubious photo-journalism (compositing shots), his treatment his treatment of the natives of Papua and the Torres Strait or his abandonment of his family. To modern eyes, these were disappointing.)
More for the conditions under which he took many of his photos.
Particularly, his remarkable photographs taken while marooned in the Antarctic on Shackleton's disastrous voyage (6 months living under a long-boat during the Antarctic winter, if I recall correctly), including dramatic images of their ship being crushed by ice.
