San Diego: Jack London, as photographer, at the Maritime Museum

After Jack London penned “The Call of the Wild,” he went traveling again.

The American novelist who wrote so brilliantly about the brutal Klondike later turned a photographer’s eye on the world aboard ships headed to exotic places like the South Pacific and the tip of South America. London chronicled those early 20th century voyages with a camera, and now 50 of his photographs are on display through Dec. 3 at the Maritime Museum of San Diego.

London shot images of seaworthy scenes while traveling on a 42-foot “ketch-rigged sailboat” called the Snark bound for the South Pacific in 1907-08 and on the Dirigo en route to Cape Horn four years later. And there are photographs of news events such as the Russo-Japanese War and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

Appropriately, the photographs are hung in the Star Gallery in the forward hold aboard the 19th-century Star of India that’s docked at the museum. The photos come from the Huntington Library and Jack London State Historic Park Collection, and were reproduced from prints and negatives, according to the Huntington’s blog. The book “Jack London, Photographer” published in 2010 provided the impetus for the exhibition.

And there’s another show at the museum that complements London’s nicely: “Cook, Melville, Gauguin: Three Voyages to Paradise.” It runs through July 31 and features watercolors, prints and other works by artist Paul Gauguin during his time in South Pacific. It also includes original paintings by Cook’s expedition artists William Hodges and John Webber.

Contact: Maritime Museum of San Diego, (619) 234-9153