davidalanharvey:Retro. This is one of the most difficult environments I’ve ever shot. Poison
davidalanharvey: Retro. This is one of the most difficult environments I’ve ever shot. Poison sulfur gas spewing out at the bottom of volcano Kawah Ijen on Java, Indonesia. Dozens of workers take a precarious “trail” down inside this active volcano to carry up on their backs slabs of sulfur. Can’t be healthy. I was wearing a pro gas mask but felt a bit guilty since the workers only had bandanas over their nose and mouth. To shoot I had to remove the gas mask and hold my breath as long as I could. Needless to say that didn’t really work so well. Getting here was a long long trip for me. 30 hours flying, 3 hours boat, 6 hour hike up the volcano, and 3 scary hours trying to go down inside. And 4 miserable hours going back up. Just to take one picture. I went up and down the volcano 3 different days. Exhausting plus breathing bad stuff. Yet the workers do this day in and day out. All for a Kodak film ad to show the color yellow in nature. Stop and think about it. There’s lots of green and blue in nature but not much yellow besides fall leaves and yellow flowers. So it took a bit of research to find something naturally yellow that would make for a dramatic photo. Worked out great though with double page spreads in many magazines. Taking pictures isn’t so hard. Access and just being there is what takes so much time and effort for pro photography.. One must be a bit of a maniac to be an on demand photographer. Everybody has great pictures somewhere along the line. The diff for pros is that you must do your best like NOW.. that’s a whole different ballgame ..#indonesia #sulfer #volcano #workers #yellow -- source link