The 1946 trip to Rapa Nui through the photographs of Gerstmann, Helfritz, and Felbermayer

Abstract

Many of us have seen the photographs of Robert Gerstmann or Hans Helfritz taken on Rapa Nui in 1946. In this paper, we describe their cruise around the island, motivation, and situations that shaped these photographs. On a journey that lasted 36 days, including passage through the archipelago of Juan Fernández on a vessel of the Navy, a group of professionals was sent by the government to assess the problems of the Rapanui natives. They were accompanied by Fritz Felbermayer, who was the geologist of the “Comisión Isla de Pascua” [Easter Island Commission], along with Robert Gerstmann and Hans Helfritz. The three European residents of Chile, with cameras around their necks, photographed the same scenes on the island, but each from their own angle. In this paper, with the help of an article published by Felbermayer in the newspaper El Mercurio de Valparaíso in February 1947 recounting how his native guides were expert fishermen and hunters, we take this graphic testimony and create a photo blog that provides an account of a moment in the history of Rapa Nui, a legacy that has survived until today, thanks to the interest and dedication that these three friends captured in their photographs.