Via My Modern Met

Chilean landscape photographer Francisco Negroni is known for his incredible images showing extreme weather conditions. His work grabbed international attention in 2011, when his photographs of the Cordón Caulle eruption went viral and earned him several awards. Negroni’s photography is unique for its ability to crystalize powerful moments in nature, showing its fiery energy in an artistic manner.

Negroni was working as a photo reporter, covering political news, when he happened to come upon the Llaima volcano eruption in 2008. Though he wasn’t able to photograph the moment, the eruption piqued his interest and caused him to switch directions with his career. “It was so little what I saw of that eruption,” he tells My Modern Met. “But it was enough for me to feel something strange and motivate me to be aware of the next eruption and travel to take pictures of it. Seeing that eruption was my real motivation to start in this world of eruption photography.”

While his technique varies according to the eruption, he mainly focuses on long exposures to pull out the detail and intensity of the event. Some of his most striking images depict dirty thunderstorms, which occur when lightning is produced in the volcanic plume. The phenomenon is caused by the collision of ash, rock, and ejecta, which produces static electricity. Studies have shown that dirty thunderstorms are present 27% to 35% of the time, making Negroni’s work all the rarer.