11 Surreal Aerial Photographs of Icelandic Volcanoes

It’s hard to believe that these photographs are not abstract paintings. Photographer Andre Ermolaev took to the skies to photograph this collection of Iceland’s volcanic rivers. The photos, which Andre often describes as ‘Ethereal’, depict rivers flowing through Iceland’s beds of volcanic ash.

Iceland is a wonderful country; I would even say that it is a true paradise for all the photo shooting-lovers. But what has become a real discovery for me is the bird’s eye view of the rivers flowing along the black volcanic sand. It is an inexpressible combination of colors, lines, and patterns. The photo represents the mouth of the river falling into the ocean. [...] A little bit upstream there is a yellow-colored brook flowing into the river, but yellow currents fail to mix with the main water flow.

It’s tricky to gain a sense of scale with these photos, but Andre suggests that if you look for the car tracks on certain images then you should be able to size them up.

You can find more of Andre’s incredible work on 500px!