The Eruption of Mount St. Helens

Two photographers, Robert Landsburg and Reid Blackburn, were among the 57 people who died May 18, 1980. These are their final images.

Days before the the eruption of Mount St. Helens, freelance photographer Robert Landsburg wrote in his journal, “Feel right on the verge of something.”

On May 18, 1980, Landsburg was less than four miles away from the volcano when it exploded. He knew he wasn’t going to survive the blast so he rewound the film into his camera, pulled it off the tripod an…