I lost all sense of context whilst on Easter Island.

In this podcast, I explain how easy it is to lose your point of reference in a new land. In this case, I found that after a few days on Easter Island, I felt like I’d always been there. Home felt like it had never existed.

I sometimes find I lose all sense of context when I’m somewhere remote, making photographs.

I’m just not sure if that’s a good thing or not.

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Some places hold a spell over me, and I just have to return because I feel that I haven’t fully explored all the photographic potential that is there.

Easter Island is one such place for me, and I’m pleased to announce that I will be returning in 2009 (March 22nd to March 26th) to conduct a photographic workshop. I have aligned this trip to coincide with my annual workshop to Torres del Paine in Patagonia.

This is a very special trip that I have set up where each day gives a lot of concentrated time at many of the best locations, and of course, I’ll be there to share thoughts on photography as well as discuss techniques.

Easter Island has to be the most remote place I’ve ever been to. The island is small, taking roughly about half an hour to get from one side to the other in a jeep. During that half hour early morning drive, I would pass an abundance of archaeological treasures, volcanoes, wild horses and silhouettes of the famous Moai statues. I was always aware of the pacific ocean on my travels, as well as the wide open sky. The clouds race over Easter Island’s landscape creating shifting patterns of light and dark.

Please feel free to view the itinerary and if you have any questions I’d love to hear from you.

One of the most impressive locations I’ve ever photographed has to be Easter Island. Situated in the middle of the Pacific ocean, it is one of the most remote places I’ve ever visited. I’d come here to photograph the island because it is full of petroglyph’s, ancient ceremonial places and of course, the famous Moai statues.

I spent six days here and must confess to suffering from cabin fever after three days. Although there is lots to see and photograph, I found the hot days unbearable and the evenings sleepless. Night time consisted of many of the dogs on the island barking until the small hours, and when they did finally stop, the cockerels or roosters would kick in. I nicknamed the island ‘rooster island’ and for me, it will always remain so.

It’s very hard to hang around when I’m feeling like that, simply waiting for the day my plane leaves. Yet, paradoxically, when I returned home to Scotland, I couldn’t believe where I’d just been.

To this day it remains one of the most special places I’ve visited so far.

The above shot is of Rano Raraku volcano. The island is triangular in shape, and each corner is composed of a major volcano. Rano Raraku is a small volcano situated in the south eastern side of the island and is where all the stone statues were carved. Many of them still rest on the slopes of the volcano.

On one of my many trips back and forth across the island (which took no more than 20 minutes one way) I saw these horses grazing below the volcano. The scene just seemed to be begging to be photographed and I had to stop the jeep and jump out. It’s a hard thing to do sometimes – think about photography whilst driving (and not crash the car – something that I must admit I have failed to do on several occasions now – but that’s another story).

I felt at the time that the shot was going to be a throw away one (trip fatigue was affecting my judgment). But much later, after I returned home and got it processed, I felt very differently about it. This I think, is because when I’m away shooting somewhere, the first few days are fresh, new, interesting. But after a while, the exotic place that I’m in has become my ‘normal point of reference’. It becomes so normal in fact, that I start to take it for granted and I loose sight of what is special about it.

It’s only when I return home, and have gone through the dreaded ‘post trip adjustment phase’ which for me, lasts around about a week, that I start to appreciate how special and exotic a place was. That’s when it’s time to review the photos.

Sometimes it’s hard to judge your photos whilst your in the midst of making them. You need a sense of distance to appreciate them for what they truly are.