Dr Richard Roscoe Born, 1971, in England.  Degree in Biological Sciences followed by PhD in microbial genetics, both at Leicester University, England.  Employed in Munich, Germany, since 1997 in the patent field. Primary photographic interests are volcanoes and wildlife, in particular penguins and other seabirds. First "lava-contact" was at Kilauea volcano in Hawaii.  Since then, visits to numerous erupting volcanoes, including Stromboli, Etna, Soufriere Hillls, Erta Ale, Bromo, Dukono, Bardarbunga, Santiaguito, Sinabung, Colima, Semeru, Sakurajima, Suwanosejima, Eyjafjallajökull, Yasur, Kliuchevskoi, Shiveluch, Paluweh and the fascinating and unique volcano Oldoinyo Lengai in Tanzania. First "penguin-contact" was on the Falkland Islands, followed by visits to the Antarctic, Argentina, New Zealand and South Africa. Initially, photography was with basic equipment to document (e.g.) volcanoes encountered during travels, whereas now "non-holiday" travel is focussed entirely on volcanoes and acquiring photos and videos thereof, using equipment capable of delivering media-compatible high quality material. Photographic skills were picked up on the road but also by critical study of own photos and the work of other photographers. Apart from providing stock photographic / video material, presentation of material and authoring of volcano-tourism or popular science texts. Speaks english, german and dutch fluently. Basic french and spanish skills.

Exhibitions, Competitions, Collaborations: Participation in exhibition "Die Vulkane der Welt" (The Volcanoes of the World), organized by Daniela Szczepanski, May 2007, Forum Daun, Eifel, Germany. Natures Best Photography Windland Smith Rice International Awards 2007 - 1 photo in final Images incorporated in video display in Exhibition at Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte, Halle, Germany. "Pompeii - Nola - Herculaneum, Katastrophen am Vesuv" (09.12.2011-08.06.2012) Exhibition at Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, Munich, Germany. "Vulnerable, Volatile - a volcano photography exhibition" (own working title: Volcanoes - Volatile Assets). Opened with 30 minute speech about interactions between volcanoes and societies on 11. Dec. 2012 (closed 1. Sep. 2013). Images incorporated in video display in Exhibition at Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung, Munich, Germany. "Pompeji - Leben auf dem Vulkan" (15.11.2013 -23.03.2014)

Publications: Photos in travel and wildlife magazines, The Times, museums, aquariums, various internet sites Author of Case-Study "Geothermal Parks in New Zealand" and co-author of chapter "Volcano Tourism in Ethiopia and the Danakil Zone" in "Volcano and Geothermal Tourism: Sustainable Geo-Resources for Leisure and Recreation", P. Erfurt-Cooper and M. Cooper Ed. (Earthscan). Photos in Intl. Assoc. of Volcanology & Chemistry of the Earths Interior (IAVCEI) calender in 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011 (cover), 2013, 2014 (2 images), 2015 Contributions to Smithsonian "Bulletin Global Volcanism Network" (e.g. in BGVN Vol.32, No.12, Dec. 2007; Vol.33, No.6, June 2008) Author of "Volcanic Cultures of Risk: Photographing Sites of Memory" in Global Environment n.11, 2013, p.216-227

Concept behind PhotoVolcanica.com

The name PhotoVolcanica is intended to reveal the main focus of the site and is a hydrid between English and Latin terminology, meaning something like "photo of the volcano". However, the site is also dedicated to the wonderful and diverse Penguins that increasingly struggle to survive in the face of overfishing, habitat loss, introduced predators, etc. etc....

Whilst initially based almost solely on images, much of the site is now a highly illustrated encyclopaedia with extensive scientific referencing. The texts may be rather challenging for readers lacking a basic knowledge of technical terms, yet explanation of such terms is widely available on the internet and the interested reader should rapidly be able to grasp at least the core concepts. Specific volcanoes are introduced in a way that is intended to give an all-round view of their history, eruptive mechanisms and impact on man. Penguins species are described in a manner that is hoped to bring the viewer closer to an understanding of where and how they live and why many species are threatened. It is hoped that a greater understanding of Penguins may trigger readers interest in their conservation and that of other vulnerable or threatened species. The author is a lifetime member of the Yellow-Eyed Penguin Trust.

The site is presently free of advertising and it is hoped to generate income by way of photo sales. Even if this fails to materialize, the interest of the many visitors to the site is reward enough to continue with its development.

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Although my photography was already available online prior to the creation of Photovolcanica, I felt that enough material was present to justify an own personal internet presence, which is not intended to replace, but rather to supplement the other websites. Thorsten Boeckels website, www.tboeckel.de has photos of mine embedded in various travel reports along with photos by Thorsten and other friends. In addition to PhotoVolcanica I have created the websites VPOW.org (Volcano Picture of the Week) which is also free of adverts and allows photographers to display their work for free. Work on the VPOW was however suspended in 2012 due to lack of sufficient high quality contributions. Further, the website VolcanoVideos.org is gradually being developed to meet growing demand for video footage of volcanic eruptions.

PhotoVolcanica includes a user-friendly interface for rapid viewing of images referred to as the "Pictureviewer". The pictureviewer is optimized for screens having a minimum width of 1280 pixels (this corresponds to the standard resolution offered for new monitors in germany in mid-2007 when the interface was created). Although I am aware that many surfers have lower resolution screens, I wanted to provide pictures in a high enough resolution so that significant detail is made available to the viewer. This means allowing viewers to see selected images at a resolution of 900x600 pixels. If you have a smaller screen, you will have to horizontally scroll to see full images once you have selected them on the selection bar. The pictureviewer may not work on all mobile devices.

The pictureviewer holds different portfolios of images, grouped according to topic. For example, the portfolios relating to volcanoes include, nighttime eruptions, daytime eruptions, lava, etc. Further pictureviewer portfolios are dedicated to (amongst other topics) Penguins, Moais, or Industrial Images. The Moai sections also show sculptures of Moais inspired by a visit to Easter Island.

Volcano pictures are also made available in a simpler format (easily viewable with older low-resolution screens), sorted alphabetically by volcano name as opposed to topic. The photos are embedded in detailed text sections explaining eruptive history and characteristics of the various volcanoes.

The second main topic covered in PhotoVolcanica is penguins. Penguin Pictures are available either in the general Pictureviewer penguin section or by selecting specific penguin species from the list provided insofar as i have already photographed the species. It is intended to include all species in the coming years.

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