10 Years Later: A Sunrise I Never Planned For on Easter Island
Nearly ten years have passed since I visited Easter Island, yet it remains one of the most unforgettable places I have ever photographed.
The island felt isolated, mysterious, and completely unlike anywhere else I had been — a place shaped by ancient history, volcanic landscapes, shifting weather, and the silent presence of the Moai watching over the coastline.
Over the years I’ve often found myself revisiting the photographs from that journey, but also the moments and experiences behind them. Some were carefully planned, while others happened entirely by chance.
This is one of those stories..
1. Before Sunrise on Easter Island
It was Wednesday, three or four days into my trip to Easter Island, and I had gotten up well before sunrise to photograph Ahu Tongariki with the first light of day rising behind the Moai.
The drive across the island started out completely dark, but as I made my way toward Tongariki, about thirty minutes from where I was staying, the first traces of ambient blue light began to appear on the horizon. Slowly, the sky started to reveal itself, and with it came one of the most extraordinary cloud formations I have ever seen.
Hundreds of small, soft clouds stretched across the sky in every direction, glowing gently as the morning light built behind them. Even before the sun had appeared, I knew it was going to be an incredible sunrise. To this day, it remains one of the most beautiful skies I have ever witnessed.
2. The Forgotten Pass
As I arrived at Tongariki and parked the car, I suddenly realized I had forgotten my national park pass. At the time, access to the site before sunrise required it.
I checked again, hoping I had simply misplaced it somewhere in the car, but it wasn’t there. The horizon was already beginning to brighten rapidly, and there was no time to drive all the way back to retrieve it. If I did, the sunrise would be gone by the time I returned and I didnt want to waste it.
For a few moments I just sat there, frustrated with myself.
I then decided to change plans entirely and continue driving around the island toward Anakena Beach instead, thinking I would simply return to Tongariki another morning.
3. A Silent Morning at Anakena
As I pulled into Anakena and stepped out onto the beach, I realized there was absolutely nobody else there. I had the entire place to myself — the white sand, the calm morning light, and the Moai standing silently against the early dawn sky, it doesnt get any better than that.
I started photographing the statues as the sun slowly climbed higher, enjoying the stillness of the place. The atmosphere felt completely different from what I had expected that morning. What had begun with stress and frustration had suddenly turned into something peaceful and strangely surreal.
4. A Chance Encounter
After about fifteen minutes or so, I suddenly heard noise and movement somewhere behind me.
I turned around to see a group of wild horses cresting a hill behind the beach.
There must have been thirty of them or more. They came running down toward the sand before gradually slowing to a walk, spread out around me and began to graze peacefully in the morning light.
I stood perfectly still, completely amazed by what I was seeing.
As long as I moved slowly, the horses didn’t seem frightened by my presence. They continued grazing nearby while the early sunlight illuminated the beach, the Moai, and the movement of the horses around them. It was one of those rare moments as a photographer where everything unexpectedly comes together.
That morning, I captured some of my favorite photographs from the entire trip — including several images of the horses grazing in front of the Moai at Anakena Beach, some of them are now available in my print collection here.
5. A Sunrise I Almost Missed
What makes the experience even more memorable to me is knowing that it only happened because I forgot my park pass. Had I remembered it that morning, I would have stayed at Ahu Tongariki for sunrise and never experienced this incredible encounter at Anakena.
I returned to Anakena another morning later in the trip, hoping to experience the same scene again, but the horses were gone. The beach was quiet, beautiful, and it had a few people there this time as well. It turned out that one small mistake led me to one of the most unforgettable photographic experiences I had anywhere on Easter Island and probably in my photography career as a whole.
Looking back now, nearly ten years later, I barely remember missing that sunrise at Ahu Tongariki. What stayed with me instead was the silence of Anakena Beach, the morning sky, and the sight of wild horses moving beneath the Moai. Sometimes the photographs you remember most are the ones you never intended to take.