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Volcano: Creation in Motion
Enter the realm of Pele, goddess of mountainsides ablaze; molten lakes that glow in the twilight; pillars of acid-laden steam rising from the boiling sea where the lava flow hits the ocean. Make your journey into this unpredictable territory in the company of two guides whose combined knowledge is incomparable. Internationally renowned volcano photographer G. Brad Lewis offers a sublime glimpse into the heart of creation. His photographs are accompanied by volcanologist and educator Jim Kauahikaua’s unique knowledge of science and Hawaiian myth.
128 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2004
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August 25, 2015
The photography in this book is stunning and the best volcano photography I've ever seen. Geophysicist Jim Kauahikaua provides the narrative as he weaves myth and geology into one. Pele, goddess of Hawaii's volcanoes, is once again a key mythological figure as he describes her search for the perfect home, which ultimately ends up in Halemaumau Crater in the Kilaeua caldera.
The photographs depict the differences in lava texture between the rough A'a and smooth and ropey Pahoehoe formations. We see spatter cones in Pu'u O'o that truly hearkens back to the dawn of Earth and its fiery creation.
These images are so beautiful and at times, otherworldly. The incandescence of lava tube skylights and rivers draining into the Pacific are beyond eye-catching. Lava bubbles bursting, spatter cones throwing out bits of lava softened by time-lapse photography, and the images of homes destroyed as the flows relentlessly push onward capture the natural power of the forces at work on our planet.
I especially loved the textures in the photographs of cooled Pahoehoe. It wasn't just black cobbles of lava like we usually see or think of when we think of cooled lava. The colors include steely blue with hints of silver, copper, navy, and violet. The formations are organic, rippled, and look permeable as they once were in their molten liquid form flowing over earth and into sea.
This compilation of photography is an incomparable geologic visual record of Hawaii's volcanoes and the lava that continues to give birth to the islands of the South Pacific. It really is no wonder that Brad Lewis's photography has been featured in publications such as National Geographic, Time, and Newsweek.
This is a dimension of the Hawaiian islands I would have loved to have seen with my own eyes. Unfortunately, I didn't have the opportunity while I was there, but it certainly could be a possibility in the future.
The photographs depict the differences in lava texture between the rough A'a and smooth and ropey Pahoehoe formations. We see spatter cones in Pu'u O'o that truly hearkens back to the dawn of Earth and its fiery creation.
These images are so beautiful and at times, otherworldly. The incandescence of lava tube skylights and rivers draining into the Pacific are beyond eye-catching. Lava bubbles bursting, spatter cones throwing out bits of lava softened by time-lapse photography, and the images of homes destroyed as the flows relentlessly push onward capture the natural power of the forces at work on our planet.
I especially loved the textures in the photographs of cooled Pahoehoe. It wasn't just black cobbles of lava like we usually see or think of when we think of cooled lava. The colors include steely blue with hints of silver, copper, navy, and violet. The formations are organic, rippled, and look permeable as they once were in their molten liquid form flowing over earth and into sea.
This compilation of photography is an incomparable geologic visual record of Hawaii's volcanoes and the lava that continues to give birth to the islands of the South Pacific. It really is no wonder that Brad Lewis's photography has been featured in publications such as National Geographic, Time, and Newsweek.
This is a dimension of the Hawaiian islands I would have loved to have seen with my own eyes. Unfortunately, I didn't have the opportunity while I was there, but it certainly could be a possibility in the future.
Displaying 1 of 1 review