© MICAH B RUBIN

  • Kawah Ijen

    Blue, sulfur-fueled fire burns in the 8,660-foot Kawah Ijen volcano. Miners toil in its hellish conditions as they literally pry raw sulfur from the active volcano’s 650-foot deep crater. Despite the roiling liquid sulfur, acidic steam, and a boiling acid lake, the miners labor without protective equipment.

  • A miner hikes out of the Kawah Ijen crater carrying a 70-100 kilo load of raw sulfur, 2011
  • Using a long crow bar, miners tear raw sulfur from the Ijen volcano as steam blows over them
  • A miner preparing his work site before extracting raw sulfur
  • Blue flames from burning liquid sulfur in the Ijen volcano crater
  • The scarred walls of Kawah Ijen's crater lit by moonlight
  • Sulfur deposits stain the sides of Ijen's crater with its acidic lake in the background
  • A miner hauling a load of raw sulfur
  • Raw mined sulfur awaits transfer to the bottom of the volcano
  • Baskets of raw sulfur await processing at the Ijen volcano
  • The crater lip of the Ijen volcano
  • Kawah Ijen from a distance

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