The Taste Of Paradise, Papua New Guinea. (1994)

On 22 September, 1994 I hitch-hiked from the airstrip at Kokopo to a hill overlooking Simpson Harbour to photograph Tuvurvur volcano (right) erupting and burying the provincial capital of Rabaul in hot ash and mud flows. As I approached the stone cross the ground shook as the appropriately named Volcan volcano (left) exploded before me. The most disconcerting aspect of the situation was knowing that I was standing on the rather unstable rim of a Krakatoa-sized super volcano of which Tuvurvur and Volcan volcanoes were simply active vents!
This image was taken on the first of 15 trips to Papua New Guinea. Getting one volcano erupting in such a remote corner of the world was reward enough — getting two erupting in the same frame is unlikely to be repeated in my lifetime.
The title, ‘The Taste Of Paradise’, is taken from the ad on the white T-shirt worn by the man beside the cross.