Photographer Focused on Preserving Film Shot During 1980 Mount St. Helens Eruption in Last Seconds
On the night of May 17, 1980, Robert Landsburg established a camp close to Mount St. Helens in southwestern Washington. The 48-year-old freelance photographer had spent weeks visiting the volcano, aiming to capture its impending eruption. He wasn’t alone in making the journey; when seismographs picked up minor tremors beneath Mount St. Helens in March 1980, numerous scientists, photographers, and hikers flocked to the location, gearing up for a significant explosion.
As dawn broke the following day, on May 18, Landsburg once again drove his station wagon toward the volcano. He had his camera ready when a 5.1-magnitude earthquake rumbled at 8:32 AM, unleashing what would become the largest landslide in U.S. history. In the aftermath, the mountain’s north face collapsed, exposing partly molten rock that erupted toward Spirit Lake along with a searing mixture of lava. An ash plume quickly ascended 15 miles into the atmosphere, and pyroclastic flows moving at speeds of up to 400 mph rushed through more than 230 square miles of woodland. In total, the eruption emitted 24 megatons of thermal energy, which was 1,600 times the magnitude of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima during World War II.
“All chaos erupted,” Catherine Hickson, a geology student who was nine miles from the volcano when it exploded, later recounted. “An astonishing black cloud was rushing down the mountainside, fed by the billowing columns shooting upward into a massive mushroom cloud.”
Landsburg, however, was situated five miles nearer to Mount St. Helens. From his location, he was already able to see the pyroclastic ash clouds, far too thick and lethal to escape. He dashed to his car for protection, continually capturing images through the window. After finishing his last roll of film, he rewound it into its canister and placed it, along with his camera, in his backpack on the passenger seat. By that time, temperatures were escalating dangerously and the smoke was denser, reaching levels up to 800°F. Landsburg realized that the only thing he could attempt to save was his photographs. He covered his backpack with his body, protecting the fragile film.
It took 17 days to recover Landsburg’s remains, buried under piles of ash. He was one of the 57 people who perished because of the eruption. In June 1980, rescuers discovered Landsburg’s car and found his precious roll of film inside. When the film was finally developed a few weeks later, the pictures revealed the haunting plumes and smoke that took Landsburg’s life. The images were subsequently published by National Geographic in January 1981, showcasing the raw power and devastation of Mount St. Helens.
Today, Landsburg’s photographs serve not merely as poignant testimonies of the monumental eruption. They also provide essential insights into Mount St. Helens itself, offering geologists, even years later, with ground-level documentation. In this respect, Landsburg’s legacy transcends his own existence, his final moments continuing to be shared with individuals worldwide.