pagesPhotographer or Volcanophiles
Monday, June 14th, 2010Cited: USA Today
Most people have the common sense that when they see a volcano start erupting, they run the opposite direction. However, there is a small and somewhat obsessed band of photographers who run towards a new lava-spewing volcano anywhere in the world.
In early April, Martin Rietze spent three sleepless nights huddled next to a large boulder about 1,600 feet from the mouth of Iceland’s recently reawakened Eyjafjallajökull volcano, having the time of his life.
Sleepless because when a volcano is throwing car-sized pieces of rock into the air, you can’t close your eyes for a second. “It’s too dangerous to sleep, so you have to stay up,” he says from his home in Eichenau, Germany.
Rietze, an engineer who builds delicate electronics for planetariums, is part of a very small group of mostly men worldwide who spend vacations racing to be as near as possible to molten magma, choking ash clouds and poisonous gases, not to mention a rain of smoking-hot boulders.
Volcanophiles exist all over the world, though there are at best only a couple hundred of them, they estimate. There are groups and individuals in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, France, the USA and Japan.
They seem to include a high percentage of engineers, computer, electrical, chemical and mechanical. Though it once was a solitary pursuit, the Internet has allowed them to share their work — and tips.
It’s a labor of love, because they all know they can’t make a living at it, says Richard Roscoe, an Englishman who works as a patent examiner in the European Patent Office. He’s spending this week in Vanuatu to shoot the Yasur volcano.
“One always hopes that one will get the really big shot and get that contract with National Geographic, but the likelihood is very minimal,” he says.
But professionals urge a large dose of caution. Volcanoes are astoundingly alluring; far too many people take far too many chances around them, say Donna and Steve O’Meara, a husband-and-wife team who shoot for National Geographic. “They put fire in people’s eyes and their brain is left behind,” Donna says.
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Even the most experienced can lose their lives. Volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft from France and Harry Glicken from the USA died in an eruption on Mount Unzen in Japan on June 3, 1991, along with 41 journalists.
Seeing an eruption in progress is “very humbling to experience, frightening and awe-inspiring,” says Jim Stimac. A geothermal engineer, he lives in Jakarta, Indonesia, and belongs to Java Lava, a local group that hikes to volcanoes. But he says they strive to be as cautious as possible.
Professional geologists and volcanologists “think we’re mad, basically,” Roscoe says.
Though not all in the academic community disdain them. Richard Wunderman, who edits the Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., says he often relies on amateurs for reports and photos of eruptions that would otherwise go unrecorded. “They’re an amazing resource,” he says.
The hardest part about capturing the raw power of a volcano in a photo isn’t getting close enough, but getting a clear view, says Arnold Binas, a computer scientist in Sydney. Clouds, fog and steam often block the view, he says. “Patience is the key.”
Safety gear is also critical, says Patrick Koster, 41, of Spijkenisse in the Netherlands. A chemical engineer, he wears a climbing helmet, goggles, a gas mask to filter ash and neutralize chemicals in the gases emitted by the volcanoes and gloves. They’re “very important because fresh lava can be razor-sharp, so if you put your hand down, you can get cut badly,” he says.
Eyjafjallajökull was “awesome” because it was accessible without being overrun with tourists, says Sean Stiegemeier, 26, a Los Angeles cinematographer.
“The one good day of weather we were there, there were probably 10 cars out next to the volcano, most of them photographers with gigantic lenses,” he says. “It was so loud, every now and again it felt like it was rumbling its stomach at us and then it would spit out lava.”
There are many volcanoes around the world and most volcanoes erupt in distant, difficult-to-access places.
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My Take: They have more guts than I do! No matter how fascinating it would be to watch a volcano erupt, I would be running in the opposite direction as fast as I could. I would grab the nearest wagon or rolling tool cart and start loading it up with my personalized water bottles and wall decals and anything else I could grab.
Of course, if I thought a safety cabinet would keep me safe from the lava, I would just jump in it. I would definitely try to save all my personalized custom gifts because they are one-of-a-kind. Then again, custom wall words are not the most of important thing my life, but I would try to save them. However, if I was near a volcano that blew, I probably would not have time to save anything but my own rear end.
I do admit that photographers to get beautiful pictures of erupting volcanoes. But risking your life to get a beautiful picture doesn’t seem right to me. I can understand risking my life to save a life, but not just to get a picture.
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