The Sunrise Guy

Editor’s note: UPword Michigan and Rural Innovation Exchange have partnered with Interlochen Public Radio to share occasional news coverage in Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. UPword Michigan published a story on Bugsy Sailor, Capturing the sunrise: A Marquette photographer’s years-long mission, in 2024.

In 2019, Bugsy Sailor made a New Year’s resolution to watch every sunrise of that year. He wanted to spend more time in nature, more time with his camera and live life to the fullest.

“I didn’t tell anybody I was gonna be doing this until I got through one month of watching sunrise,” he said. “And that’s in January on Lake Superior.”

Now almost seven years later, he’s still setting his alarm every morning, and thousands of fans follow along on social media and beyond. Bugsy is the sunrise guy. But the creative drive which started the sunrise project will also be the thing that ends it. More and more, Bugsy thinks about wrapping the project up. But who is he without sunrise?

“My identity is so wrapped into this,” Bugsy said. “It’s kind of scary to think, ‘Who am I?’ What else is out there if I stop watching sunrise?”

Listen to the full episode of this Points North podcast here.