Location: Ahu Tongariki, Easter Island
Aching for that sunset photo of Ahu Tongariki, the largest group of upright Moai? Only one word. Trust.
Easter Island (Rapa Nui, a Chilean territory) is a remote volcanic island in Polynesia. And while there are nearly 900 massive statues called Moai, created by inhabitants during the 13th–16th centuries, the most impressive is the single row of 15 upright Moai facing inland carved from two different quarries and types of stone on the island. Legend has it that Ahu Tongariki Moai could have faced West and toward the land to protect the villages and farms versus the other Moai who greeted Pacific Ocean voyagers.
To capture the evening shot at Ahu Tongariki, I called for a cab from my hotel and explained to the driver that I'd love to shoot scenes at sunset and if he could please wait while I did this and then bring me back. We drove about 20 minutes all the while realizing no one knows where I'm going, I don't know he driver. There's absolutely nothing around this scenery (or for almost 2,000 miles for that matter). We're smack in the middle of the Pacific. And there isn't a cell signal. Just me and the cab driver. At this point, trust in humanity is the only thing that matters.
Ahu Tongariki photo by Joanne Markow
While driving, I started to doubt whether I really needed this photo before going home. I looked carefully around the car and made sure my ID was on me. I started memorizing the scenes I saw and the number of turns we took but most of the milestones were natural resources. When we arrived, the cab driver asked for my camera. I said, "No that's ok." and just started walking. Last thing I wanted to do was to give him my camera.
Since the statues face West, I stood behind them in order to get the full sunset in view using a wide angle. With no one else around, it was a great opportunity to really look at the fronts and backs of each Moai, one by one. While there were overall feature consistencies, the heights, earrings, headdresses and overall details differed as each Moai represented an image of a ruling king.
The cab driver asked for my camera again. At this point, I gave it to him. What am I going to do. We're in the middle of nowhere literally and perhaps he's just trying to help. So I handed it over and he graciously took a few photos just as the light was getting darker and darker.
It was a refreshing reflection on life. We come from a world where trust is so lacking that our initial reaction is negative. Am I safe? Will I die? Will he try to steal my camera? Here was a time and place where all that mattered was connecting with other humans, present and past. The cab driver helped show me great angles for the photos based on growing up there and offered to take photos of me with the Moai I otherwise would never have gotten given that I travel alone. To hear nothing and see nothing but the land, the sun, and the monolithic statues from a time gone by, all you could do was just breathe, soak it in, and feel the energy of what it must have been like to live in such a barren and desolate place whose natural resources consisted of volcanic rock quarries and a smattering of trees.
It makes you rethink work. So many deals, transactions, companies and even people you can't trust at all times with your time, energy or money. It's hard to know how we became so untrustworthy as a species but we did.
But here, all I could do was trust. And it was worth it.
