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Photos: The challenge of translating a volcano’s fury into images

They call it the Volcano of Fire, one of the most active volcanoes in the Americas, frequently spewing ash and gas across a swath of Guatemala, west of the capital. In June 2018, Volcano de Fuego let loose its fury, spewing molten rock and black clouds of ash. Within minutes the villages on its flanks were obliterated. Six months after what is now being called "The Colossus," relatives still seek missing family members. Rodrigo Abd of the Associated Press was on the scene following the eruption and was presented with the challenge of capturing the sweeping destruction left behind. These images are his response.

Updated on: Dec 14, 2018 11:46 AM IST

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1/10

Steam rises from the terrain in San Miguel Los Lotes, Guatemala devastated by an eruption of the Volcano de Fuego, pictured in the background. On June 3, the mountain erupted with a fury not seen in more than a century, exploding with 1,300-degree molten rocks and black clouds of ash that smothered villages and buried at least 194 people alive. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

Updated on Dec 14, 2018 11:46 AM

Steam rises from the terrain in San Miguel Los Lotes, Guatemala devastated by an eruption of the Volcano de Fuego, pictured in the background. On June 3, the mountain erupted with a fury not seen in more than a century, exploding with 1,300-degree molten rocks and black clouds of ash that smothered villages and buried at least 194 people alive. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

2/10

A bare tree stands amid ash, rock and debris in the aftermath of a fast-moving avalanche of super-heated muck. Rodrigo Abd was among the photojournalists who arrived on the scene. As he covered the news, he considered how to capture the sweep of the volcano’s destructive power and the magnitude of the human drama that had unfolded in minutes. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

Updated on Dec 14, 2018 11:46 AM

A bare tree stands amid ash, rock and debris in the aftermath of a fast-moving avalanche of super-heated muck. Rodrigo Abd was among the photojournalists who arrived on the scene. As he covered the news, he considered how to capture the sweep of the volcano’s destructive power and the magnitude of the human drama that had unfolded in minutes. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

3/10

Animal carcasses lie entwined as steam rises on the horizon. The questions that presented themselves: How to document the tragedy — of lives and a landscape obliterated — on a piece of 35mm film? Abd decided that the panoramic format was necessary to tell this story of annihilation. Black and white film would best show ash-encased villages such as San Miguel Los Lotes. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

Updated on Dec 14, 2018 11:46 AM

Animal carcasses lie entwined as steam rises on the horizon. The questions that presented themselves: How to document the tragedy — of lives and a landscape obliterated — on a piece of 35mm film? Abd decided that the panoramic format was necessary to tell this story of annihilation. Black and white film would best show ash-encased villages such as San Miguel Los Lotes. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

4/10

Peering through his lens, he found Elmer Vazquez searching for his wife and five children where he thought the family home had been. His wife was cooking lunch, their five children finishing homework when the eruption occurred. The farmer looked destroyed as he climbed into pits dug by a backhoe whenever he saw human remains or bits of torn clothing that could have belonged to his family. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

Updated on Dec 14, 2018 11:46 AM

Peering through his lens, he found Elmer Vazquez searching for his wife and five children where he thought the family home had been. His wife was cooking lunch, their five children finishing homework when the eruption occurred. The farmer looked destroyed as he climbed into pits dug by a backhoe whenever he saw human remains or bits of torn clothing that could have belonged to his family. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

5/10

In a makeshift morgue, dozens of victims’ bodies wrapped in white bags formed a kind of silent corridor that ended with two exhausted forensic doctors taking a break after days and nights of continuous work. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

Updated on Dec 14, 2018 11:46 AM

In a makeshift morgue, dozens of victims’ bodies wrapped in white bags formed a kind of silent corridor that ended with two exhausted forensic doctors taking a break after days and nights of continuous work. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

6/10

Marlene Vazquez (R), sits next to her cousin Silas Vazquez, with a portrait of their cousins who were killed in the eruption. Outside the morgue, anxious relatives waited for the results of DNA tests to see if their loved ones were among those inside, while others prepared to hold dignified burials in the town cemetery. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

Updated on Dec 14, 2018 11:46 AM

Marlene Vazquez (R), sits next to her cousin Silas Vazquez, with a portrait of their cousins who were killed in the eruption. Outside the morgue, anxious relatives waited for the results of DNA tests to see if their loved ones were among those inside, while others prepared to hold dignified burials in the town cemetery. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

7/10

Residents walk towards the cemetery carrying coffins that contain the remains of residents who died in the Volcano of Fire eruption, in San Juan Alotenango, Guatemala. The explosion devastated entire families living in tightly knit communities on the mountain’s flanks. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

Updated on Dec 14, 2018 11:46 AM

Residents walk towards the cemetery carrying coffins that contain the remains of residents who died in the Volcano of Fire eruption, in San Juan Alotenango, Guatemala. The explosion devastated entire families living in tightly knit communities on the mountain’s flanks. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

8/10

A military chaplain attempts to comfort survivors Francisca Nij and her brother Francisco, during their mother’s wake, who died in the eruption, in Alotenango. The June 3 eruption has 194 people recorded killed. Another 234 are officially missing, although organizations supporting the communities insist there are thousands more missing. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

Updated on Dec 14, 2018 11:46 AM

A military chaplain attempts to comfort survivors Francisca Nij and her brother Francisco, during their mother’s wake, who died in the eruption, in Alotenango. The June 3 eruption has 194 people recorded killed. Another 234 are officially missing, although organizations supporting the communities insist there are thousands more missing. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

9/10

In San Miguel Los Lotes, the drama did not end in those first days. Ten days after the volcano blew, Angelica Maria Alvarez, pictured here taking a breather, continued looking for her husband, two daughters and more than nine relatives in a house turned to twisted iron and hot ash. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

Updated on Dec 14, 2018 11:46 AM

In San Miguel Los Lotes, the drama did not end in those first days. Ten days after the volcano blew, Angelica Maria Alvarez, pictured here taking a breather, continued looking for her husband, two daughters and more than nine relatives in a house turned to twisted iron and hot ash. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

10/10

Residents look through family photos found outside a home. Two days after the eruption, the terrain was still too hot in many places for rescue crews to search for bodies. Six months after what is now being called “The Colossus,” relatives still seek missing family members by their own means. Government and relief agencies have ended their search for the dead. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

Updated on Dec 14, 2018 11:46 AM

Residents look through family photos found outside a home. Two days after the eruption, the terrain was still too hot in many places for rescue crews to search for bodies. Six months after what is now being called “The Colossus,” relatives still seek missing family members by their own means. Government and relief agencies have ended their search for the dead. (Rodrigo Abd / AP)

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