23rd Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Drone/Aerial
Chromatic Vents

This aerial image captures the Sol de Mañana thermal field in southern Bolivia, showing bubbling mud pots, steaming fumaroles, and cratered earth swirled with minerals. Vibrant hues of blue, red, yellow, and white blend together, created by volcanic minerals, sulfur, and geothermal action at nearly 4,900 meters altitude. Rising steam and fractured textures add to the bizarre, otherworldly look of one of the world's highest geothermal zones, deep within the remote Altiplano of Eduardo Avaroa National Reserve.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 07.2025
Date Uploaded: 11.2025
Photo Location: Bolivia
Camera: FC4370
Copyright: © Alexandre Brisson