Joe Harris visited the Ijen crater on the island of Java, Indonesia for these images taken on film and digital media. The surreal and desolate landscape of the crater makes for a haunting and otherworldly atmosphere that feels disconnected from everything below the clouds.
The 2,800m high volcano is home to a community of sulphur miners who skirt the crater’s acid lake to extract the molten sulphur that cools in the crater base. The miners work without safety equipment, use only rudimentary tools and must endure toxic fumes and high temperatures to scale the steep paths up to the crater ridge, and 3km back down the mountain carrying loads of up to 90kg. Earning around 80,000 Rupiah (£4) per day for their work, although more than the local average, the mens’ life expectancy is poor.
