In the volcano Erta Ale, Ethiopia, some shy eruptions warns you about the presence of a lava lake, a rare natural phenomenon on our planet. Gradually, the activity ceases and the murmur becomes a black and opaque silence, mimicking its hardened surface. Time runs slowly, but it’s disturbed by the hiss of the contained pressure; the volcano’s anxiety increases and, in its core, an eruption shatters the crust and, like a divine act, triggers a chain reaction, breaking up the lake’s surface in tens of lava bursts rising in the air, increasing the surrounding temperature up to an intolerable level, capable of drying and cracking our skin. Shortly after, the lava’s drumming begins to slow down; the vibrant yellows and oranges become a dry and viscous hue of these colours, falling slowly into a solid, quiet and calm state. The scars heal and close, ending a cycle that, when this demigod volcano desires, will be repeated until the mother of all eruptions create a new lava lake, somewhere in the hottest place on Earth. © Joel Santos - www.joelsantos.net
