Robert Landsburg

Robert Emerson Landsburg (November 13, 1931 – May 18, 1980) was an American photographer who died while photographing the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.

He was born in Seattle, Washington, and was a resident of Portland, Oregon, at the time of his death.

In the weeks leading up to the eruption, Landsburg visited the area many times in order to photographically document the changing volcano.

On the morning of May 18, he was within a few miles of the summit.

When the mountain erupted, Landsburg took photos of the rapidly approaching ash cloud.

Before he was engulfed by the pyroclastic flow, he rewound the film back into its case, put his camera in his backpack, and then laid himself on top of the backpack to protect its contents.

His body was found 17 days later, buried in the ash with his backpack underneath 46.21286°N, -122.26758°W.

The film was developed and has provided geologists with valuable documentation of the historic eruption.