Vanuatu's 'barefoot volcanologist' stands at ash- and sulfur-spewing Mount Yasur in award-winning photograph

A photograph of an amateur volcanologist standing barefoot on the lava fields of Vanuatu's Mount Yasur has won the Portraiture category of the Open competition of this year's Sony World Photography Awards. Fine art and documentary photographer Elle Leontiev captured the image of Philip, the "barefoot volcanologist" on Tanna, a remote Pacific island approximately 120 miles (190 kilometers) from the main island of Efate.

"It was actually tough conditions on the day. The volcano was spewing a lot of ash that day, a lot of sulfur," Leontiev told Live Science. "It was really hard just to breathe; I was struggling. It was really windy, and a lot of the ash and sulfur was just being blown straight at us. We actually got off the volcano because it was too dangerous to stay up there."

Won the Sony World Photography Awards Open Portrait Category! Follow me on IG @elle_tieva for more - YouTube

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Mount Yasur is a 1,184-foot (361 meters) active volcano on the eastern side of Tanna. It has been erupting since at least 1774, according to the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program, with regular low-to-moderate Strombolian explosions. The last period of major unrest was December 2025. Because of its frequent, moderate explosive activity, Mount Yasur is one of the most accessible Strombolian volcanoes in the world.

Philip, who was born and lives at the base of the volcano, has spent years studying and monitoring Mount Yasur. He trained with French volcanologist Thomas Boyer — but with limited access to further education and the high cost of fees, Philip has no formal qualifications.

Boyer, lab manager and chief scientist at Geolab XP, a Vanuatu-based independent geological laboratory, met Philip in 2011 while visiting Yasur.

"I started to teach him stuff about volcanoes at the same time he was teaching me how to approach the Yasur and (volcano) field techniques he learned since he was a small boy," he told Live Science in an email. "We complemented each other from the start and have since successfully blended our two worldviews: science and Melanesian customs. … Philip has progressively played an increasingly important role locally as a knowledgeable observer of Yasur and as a bridge between the volcano, visiting scientists, and the communities of Tanna."

Because of the volcanic soil, Tanna is extremely fertile. People on the island, which has a population of around 30,000, rely on farming and tourism, focusing on basic needs and cultural customs. "Philip's sort of that exception to the rule in a sense that, yeah, he's a man of science; he loves science," Leontiev said.

Activity at Yasur generally consists of explosive bursts that eject "volcanic bombs," ash and gas from the vents in the summit crater, Boyer said. It's relatively predictable, he added, which is why controlled tourism is possible.

As a guide, Philip takes researchers and tourists up the volcano, but there's been a significant decline in visitors to Vanuatu in recent years.

"It's pretty isolated out there now," Leontiev said. In 2015, Tropical Cyclone Pam, one of the worst Pacific storms in recorded history, severely damaged Vanuatu's infrastructure and wiped out crops, livestock and fisheries. Tourism was also severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and in 2024, the main domestic airline, Air Vanuatu, was placed into liquidation. Then, in December 2024, the country was hit by a 7.3 magnitude earthquake that caused extensive destruction and affected over 80,000 people.

Vanuatu, a chain of around 80 volcanic islands, is also at huge risk from climate change, with extreme weather, coastal erosion, sea level rise and ocean acidification affecting resources and tourism.

Leontiev said Philip now collaborates with the Vanuatu Meteorology & Geo-hazards Department, visiting the seismic stations on the volcano and occasionally carrying out sampling. He also works at the nearby volcano museum that Boyer set up.

"Yasur is embedded in the cultural and spiritual life of Tanna," Boyer said. "All communities consider it part of their identity and history, and people have lived safely around it for generations, respecting the volcano and understanding its rhythms. Philip and I tried to highlight that in our museum, that science and traditions are not at odds with each other."

The museum, Haos Blong Volkeno, is an educational center and hub for visiting scientists. "It provides an important local base for logistics, field coordination, and scientific exchanges between international researchers and the local community," Boyer said, adding that both he and Philip help visiting scientists access craters, carry out observations, and maintain and check monitoring equipment.

"On a day-to-day basis, Philip's work is a mix of observation, guiding, and informal monitoring," Boyer said. "Because he lives directly next to the volcano, he has a continuous awareness of its behaviour. This kind of long-term visual and experiential knowledge is extremely valuable for us as volcanologists, it can help [build] models and better predict future eruptions."

The suit Philip is wearing in the photograph was donated by a group of scientists who visited the volcano, Leontiev said. He goes barefoot because he always has. "[His feet are] pretty resistant to the elements," she said. "Also his feet are so huge that no shoes fit him." Actor Will Smith, whom Philip helped guide for the 2021 National Geographic documentary "Welcome to Earth," had a pair of shoes custom-made for him, "but I don't know if he wears them," Leontiev added.

Philip's aim is to send his son, John, to university to become Tanna's first official volcanologist. John, who is of university age, is now working with Boyer to learn about volcanoes. "The passion has been passed on to the next generation," he said. "We want to help John do what Philip was unable to do formally: study science and volcanology."

Because Vanuatu has no dedicated volcanology program, he hopes to study in New Caledonia or New Zealand. "Education in Vanuatu is limited, and they also have to pay it out of their own pocket," Leontiev said. "It's around $2,000 a year, which is really high." According to the United Nations Urban Resilience Hub, the average income for a person in Vanuatu's capital, Port Vila, is around $350 per month.

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Cinematographer Guillaume Beaudoin, who made a short film about Philip's work after meeting him while filming volcanoes on Vanuatu's remote islands, launched a campaign to raise funds for John's education.

"Philip is a really good person, a really kind person," Leontiev said, "and someone who believes a lot in his community and looks out for everybody. I think that desire to see the youth succeed and get an education is something really admirable about him and something that he strives for regardless of his circumstances. He's also someone that hasn't let his dreams die in the face of any obstacles. I think that's pretty special."

Sony World Photography Awards 2026. Exhibition at Somerset House in London, April 17 to May 4, 2026. worldphoto.org