Two filmmakers created a short film, "Volcano for the People," that explores the recent Iceland volcano eruption less as a natural phenomenon, but more as a collective experience that brings humanity together.
Back in 2010, a series of volcanic eruptions in Iceland captured the world's attention. Although they were relatively small in scale, the ash that was spewed into the air disrupted air travel across Europe for a number of days. Photographer Sigurdur Stefnisson witnessed the eruptions first hand, and was able to capture a series of jaw-dropping photographs showing the power and scale of the ash clouds, lightning, and lava.
It may be hard to believe at first, but the photographs in this post are just that: photographs. Though they might look like beautiful abstract paintings, they are actually photos of volcanic rivers taken by Russian photographer Andre Ermolaev from way up in the air.
QT Luong is typically a large-format photographer who travels the U.S. photographing the beauty of its national parks. When he decided to go to Hawaii's Volcanoes National Park, however, he chose to go digital and create the above time-lapse -- according to Luong, "the first time-lapse to survey Hawaii Volcanoes National Park from sea to summit."
The Sakurajima volcano in southern Japan has been quite active so far in 2013, and photographer Martin Rietze recently traveled to the site to document the eruptions through photographs. His images capture smoke billowing out of the crater, lava exploding in trails of orange light, and lightning flashing back and forth inside the dark ash cloud.