An anonymous Sydney photographer found himself with a front-row seat to one of nature’s most jaw-dropping natural spectacles on the other side of the world, and his photos are now receiving international acclaim.
The photographer, known only by his social media handle Lost Mtns, is based in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.
But this week he found himself photographing a different landmark when a volcano erupted in Iceland, south of the capital, Reykjavik.
Lost Mtns told 9news.com.au it was a happy coincidence the volcano erupted when he had leave booked, but getting to the molten mountain was a journey in its own right.
“When I first landed I was stuffed,” he said, with a laugh.
“But I have learned my lesson in the Blue Mountains, if you wait, if you’re tired, nature changes.
“I had just been in a family’s kitchen in Abu Dhabi in the desert, then I was in Paris, and then I landed, but tired I decided to go straight to the volcano”.
/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2Fcd8f86a5-85a9-4cfa-8969-9de45f429dfe)
Jetlagged, he made his way to the car park closest to the volcano and met two locals who insisted they knew where the crater was.
“Worst mistake of my life, we got lost,” Lost Mtns said.
“At the end of the day I did 52 kilometres, carrying gear at least 20 kilos.
But the sight he was met with was “absolutely phenomenal”.
“The emotions were really raw and powerful,” Lost Mtns said.
“To fly over it and feel the force of it was just absolutely incredible.
“Words just don’t do it justice. There’s nothing man-made that could contain it, nothing man can do could stop lava.”
The very next day, the car park closest to the volcano closed due to the threat of poisonous gases.
Largest volcanic eruptions in the world
Read Related Also: The CDC Gives Advice for Men Who Want to 'Breastfeed'
After trekking to the volcano by foot, and flying over it on a helicopter days later, Lost Mtns decided to enter photos in a competition held by two renowned photographers: Chris Burkard, from the US, and Benjamin Hardman, from Australia.
Burkard, has had his work showcased in National Geographic, and together with Hardman, decided to select a limited number of community-sourced photos of the eruption to hang in a gallery they co-own together in Reykjavik.
The funds raised will be donated to the Icelandic Association of Search and Rescue (ICE-SAR).
One of Lost Mtns’ photos has made the cut.
“I met Lost Mtns a few days ago at the gallery and really admired his work and approach to photography and travel in the Blue Mountains,” Hardman, who is from Perth, told 9news.com.au.
“His close-up image of the lava really struck my attention, the contrast of blue against the explosion of lava was the perfect abstract image to add into the exhibition collection.
“We have work from 25 photographers after an overwhelming volume of submissions. It’s incredible how much variety in artistic expression and composition can come out of three days of an erupting volcano.”
Lost Mtns is still pinching himself, as he describes the pair as his heroes.
“Meeting them was huge,” he said.
“The top 25 photos will be printed and hung in the gallery for a few months.
“And this has ignited a volcano-chasing itch for sure.”
Sign up here to receive our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts, sent straight to your inbox.
