Mount St. Helens Eruption in 1980 24

In our world, there are few people who are most devoted to their profession, who would put their work above life. Despite the fact that people regularly attend management seminars and refresher training, they are often still negligent in their work, but there are exceptions. Such an exception was American photographer Robert Landsburg, who photographed the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980.

On Sunday, May 18, 1980 at 8:32 a.m., the bulging north flank of Mount St. Helens slid away in a massive landslide -- the largest in recorded history. Seconds later, the uncorked volcano exploded and blasted rocks northward across forest ridges and valleys, destroying everything in its path within minutes.

During April and early May, Robert Landsburg made dozens of trips to the vicinity of the Mount St. Helens, hiking and climbing to various vantage points. The morning of May 18 found him near the volcano's peak, seeking "just one more" eruption sequence to round out his coverage.

When the mountain exploded, he already had his camera on a tripod, aimed and cocked. As the all-engulfing cloud of ash climbed the sky toward him, four miles from the summit, he desperately cranked frames by frames across his lens, then rewound the film into its cassette inside the camera, wrenched the camera from its tripod, and stowed it in his backpack. His wallet was in the backpack too, perhaps to assure future identification.

Seventeen days later, his body was found in the ash, together with the film that cost him his life. It contained not only telling images of the killing edge of the blast but also the scratches, bubbles, warping, and light leaks caused by heat and ash, the very thumbprint of the holocaust.

The film could be developed and has provided geologists with valuable documentation of the historic eruption. You could view Robert Landburg's photos in this gallery.

Information for this article were sourced from Wikipedia, Хочу знать and the National Geographic Archive.