Robbie Shone Photography

09/03/2026

To follow yesterday’s photograph in memory of Ruth Eichhorn; who was the Director of Photography at GEO magazine in Germany for 21 years, here is a third image from that first assignment she gave me for GEO in 2012, exploring the caves of China.
This photograph was taken during the extra two weeks I stayed in China after the original three week assignment from Ruth and GEO had finished. By then I was determined to keep going. I wanted to come home with a knock-out set of photographs that truly made a mark and the most of the opportunity Ruth had given me.
The caver in the water is American speleologist Erin Lynch, the leader of the expedition and the protagonist of our story. Here she is fighting her way across ferocious rapids in an underground river, completely focused on getting through. There is something about Erin in this photograph that makes me think of Ruth. Both had found their own paths and made a significant mark through the work they did. There was a quiet, yet steely determination in both of them that I admired.
During those extra two weeks in China, I wasn’t ready to leave. I wanted to keep looking, keep photographing and come home with something that would show Ruth that the chance she had given me had been worthwhile.
Thank-you, Ruth.

09/02/2026

Following on from yesterday’s post in memory of Ruth Eichhorn, who was Director of Photography at GEO magazine in Germany for 21 years, here is another photograph from that first assignment she gave me in 2012 - China caves.
These two cave explorers are crawling flat out through a narrow passage in San Wang D**g, pushing heavy bags of equipment ahead of them. It was painful, exhausting work. Looking at this photograph now, I’m struck by how much cave exploration resembles the life of a freelance photographer. There is a lot of struggle, uncertainty and suffering behind the final image. You keep pushing forward, often without knowing where the next opportunity or discovery will come from, hoping that somewhere ahead there is something new and worthwhile to show the world. I think Ruth understood that struggle better than most. She knew how difficult it could be for a young photographer to get a proper chance. She recognised talent and potential, but she also understood that sometimes what a budding photographer needed most was simply someone willing to open a door. And Ruth was willing to do that. She gave important breaks to so many young photographers who went on to have remarkable careers. She saw something in them, believed in them, and wanted to help them find their way. That generosity is one of the things I will remember most about her. Thank-you, Ruth.

09/01/2026

I’m deeply saddened by the passing of Ruth Eichhorn.

Ruth gave me my very first big break as a photographer in 2012. She sent me to China for three weeks to photograph caves for GEO magazine. She paid me for three weeks, but because I wanted to honour the faith and kindness she had shown me, I stayed for five, and gave her every photograph I made. I will never forget that first chance she gave me, or the generosity that came with it. Thank-you, Ruth, for believing in me when it mattered most.

This isn’t only the photograph from that trip that I’m most pleased with. It might just be one of my favourite photographs I’ve ever made. I made it during those extra two weeks, beyond the assignment Ruth had given me. It is Cloud Ladder Hall, near Wulong in China. It is an absolutely enormous chamber, so vast that it has its own weather system. Warm, humid air rises through the cave, forming clouds and mist that can fill the upper parts of the chamber. Standing there, you could look up and not even see the ceiling. The scale was almost impossible to comprehend.

For the rest of this week, I’ll share one photograph each day from that first assignment in China, made for Ruth and GEO. Looking through these photographs again brings back so many memories of that trip, and of the beginning of something that changed my life.

Thank-you, Ruth, for believing in me and for giving me that first chance. I will never forget you.

May you rest in peace.

08/20/2026

Cenotes Urbanos team member Miguel Angel Guillermo Amador () risked everything to capture shocking footage of the Tren Maya ripping through the Yucatán’s underground cenotes. This is the hidden destruction beneath the rainforest, the pollution, the collapse, the loss of what draws people here in the first place. Without Miguel’s courage, the world wouldn’t see what’s really happening. Thank you! And thank-you to Cenotes Urbanos for your fearless work to protect these sacred waters.
In the coming days, l’ll finish telling this story; one of environmental disaster and of a cultural legacy at risk of being buried beneath steel and concrete. This isn’t just about an illegal train. It’s about the choices we make: what we decide to preserve, and what we allow to be sacrificed.
• Link to the Nat Geo article in my bio.

08/18/2026

Back in the caves, this time in Eisriesenwelt in Austria, for a new collaboration with from Australia. We first met during my first cave photography workshop in Costacciaro, Italy, in 2025, and it’s great to now be working together on a book project.

It was especially fascinating to see and feel the effects from the new second door at the entrance, helping reduce the warm summer air blowing down through the cave and slowing the melting of its incredible ice formations. A beautiful reminder of how fragile these frozen worlds are. If you get the chance to visit, please don’t hesitate! Eisriesenwelt

08/15/2026

08/15/2026

As a cave photographer, I’ve spent much of my life travelling to far flung places in search of extraordinary moments. During the 1999 eclipse, I was deep underground exploring my local cave and practising my cave photography, completely missing it. Last night was very different. I simply stood on my balcony at home in Tirol with my family beside me and watched the eclipse unfold. No flights, no expensive trips, no chasing it around the world. Just home, family and an incredible moment happening right above us. Sometimes the best experiences are the ones that come to you.

National Geographic

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/article/total-solar-eclipse-europe-2026-photos

08/12/2026

When I was a teenager, I had a fear of heights. At art college, our class visited the Empire State Building in NYC and we joined other tourists in admiring the breathtaking view over Manhattan. I was comfortable gazing ahead into the skyline and horizon, but looking straight down at the streets below was petrifying. My fear of heights inspired a series of art works I made while in the college (pic 1 & 3). At the time, I was painting giant canvases with oils, acrylics, turpentine, and linseed oil. I would lay the canvas on the floor and brush the paints around to create my art, which ultimately helped me creatively cope, understand, and express my experiences and feelings around my fear of heights. I focused on the perspective, and exaggerated it ever so slightly so the viewer felt a sense of vertigo when they looked at my paintings on a wall, in an almost overpowering and unnerving way as they towered over the view. Because I spent so many weeks working on this art project, each of my paintings helped me overcome my fear of heights. These two pictures presented here are two paintings from the portfolio.

Years later, I am now a cave photographer, where I often find myself suspended on a thin length of rope hundreds and hundreds of feet above the floor, concentrating on making pictures in total darkness, no longer afraid of heights, just aware of them. Photographs 2 & 4 are of a cave in England called ‘Titan’ which were inspired from those early paintings from the Empire State Building.

08/08/2026

A place that feels frozen in time, but isn’t.
The “Wind Tunnel” in El Cenote, hidden in the Italian Dolomites, was a fragile world carved by ice over centuries. Sadly, it doesn’t exist anymore.
Across the Alps, glaciers are retreating at an unprecedented rate. In recent decades, Europe has lost much of its glacial ice, with some regions seeing over half disappear since the 1900s. The Dolomites are especially vulnerable, with many smaller glaciers already gone.
Hotter, longer summers are accelerating the melt, outpacing winter snowfall. Scientists warn many Alpine glaciers could largely vanish this century if warming continues. These glaciers are Europe’s “water towers”, feeding rivers, ecosystems, agriculture and drinking water. As they shrink, water becomes less reliable, especially in dry summers.

07/15/2026

Climbing the vertical cliff face back up from the entrance of WUL-8 with all my photography gear was an effort! Managing the ropes while carrying equipment and trying not to knock any loose rocks down onto my teammates below was a real challenge. Having the hands-free communication system by Cardo kept me in sync with everyone on the wall, letting me know when the ropes were free above and allowing me to tell those down below I’d safely passed a belay. It made the whole climb a lot smoother. Thanks to Chris Blakeley for shooting this video.

To read the full story, the online article on ’s homepage can be found by following the link 🔗 in my bio.

Thanks to everyone who made this possible, especially our 2023 expedition team: Gina Moseley, Robbie Shone, Nathan Hudson Peacock, Gabriella Koltai, Chris Blakeley, Sebastian Ravn Rasmussen, and Matthias Vogt. An enormous thank-you also goes to the sponsors:
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