Photo: Richard Wu’s Facebook page
If you’ve been lucky to travel around Indonesia, you’ll know that our awesome archipelago contains an astounding array of landscapes. From majestic mountains and ancient jungles to breathtaking beaches and windswept plains, our islands have got them all.
But we doubt you’ve ever seen Indonesia as portrayed by Reuben Wu. Although he is best known as a musician and member of the seminal electronic band Ladytron, Wu is also an accomplished photographer with a singular perspective that he recently brought to bear on Indonesia.
After beginning his trip in Bali, Wu soon headed to East Java to capture images of its volcanoes, unlike any we’ve ever seen before. Through his lens, Indonesia seems strange, exotic and unearthly. If we had been told these were stills from a big budget sci-fi film taking place on an alien world, we would not have second guessed it.
His photos of Kawah Ijen (Ijen Crater) are particularly powerful. The largest acid lake on Earth lies inside Ijen, and it released so much sulphur dioxide it requires a gas mask and goggles to get close.
But that seems a small price to pay to capture some jaw-dropping photos of Ijen’s eerie blue flames.
“The blue flames from the molten sulphur is only visible at night, and it’s an amazing sight. However, the clouds of gas venting from the numerous fumaroles in the crater make it difficult and dangerous to get close,” Wu told Monster Children (you can see more photos of his blue flame photos there).
To see more of Reuben Wu’s photography, check out his Instagram and Facebook pages.
