Friday 8 June 2007

Pressure..... (updated)



I know how he feels... My life is a bit like that lighthouse right now.

The Lighthouse in the pictures is 'La Jument', off the coast of Brittany, The man is Lighthouse-keeper Théodore Malgorne.
This series of pictures, entitled ‘La Jument’, was taken by the photographer Jean Guichard during a storm in 1989, The lighthouse keepers were seeking refuge from the storm in fear of their lives in the towers lantern. Guichard was in the area taking photographs of this particular tower during the storm, for his book, The Lighthouses of France.
One of the keepers, Théodore Malgorne, thinking the chopper outside was the rescue team opened the door and took a look. Guichard was right there to capture the scene in a series of seven photographs. Malgorne turned around in time to close the door and to avoid being swept away.

Addendum: Picture number 3 is not La Jument, it's Le Four, Brittany/Finisterre

Posters of Guichard's beautiful photographs are available, as are copies of his books, from several sources, I recommend Amazon.
High resolution art-quality prints are available via Jean Guichard's own website- (Google it)

11 comments:

  1. oh wow! no kidding. how are you holding up?

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  2. well, at least your lighthouse comes with a railing.

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  3. Even if there wasn't a railing surrounding his lifehouse, Soubriquet is savvy enough jerry-rig one in place to prevent the waves from moving him.
    If the railing isn't enough, there are lots of us who will be there, armed with life-preserver and harpoon to keep the brine and kraken at bay.

    Kind regards,
    Commodore Felix Von Swabbie
    of Soubriquet's Littoral Flotilla

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  4. There is nothing more beautiful than a calm sea after a storm......

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  5. dear captain uber von kraken swabbie,

    even if there were no railing, ersatz is savvy enough to climb the lighthouse steps and sit safely in his bright lit tower.

    though i am sure he is deeply appreciative of your life preserving harpoons. just be careful where you aim them before you throw. you never know what you might accidentally hit.

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  6. Hope you're managing to withstand those pressures like the lighthouse does.

    Great pics.

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  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  8. (Spellling erreorseditted out) Thank you, people...
    The helicopter is unavailable, and I keep hearing a grinding, scraping sound from deep beneath my feet.
    I don't think upstairs or railings are the answer.
    I shall set to work with wax and feathers, oil the feathers well, and hope, if the foundations give way, and the tower is swept into the maelstrom, that I may be hurled aloft, and find land or a storm-tossed ship before my allergy to feathers gets me.
    The traditional danger to the followers of Icarus is no hazard whilst around me is all this grey.

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  9. Amazing shots of nature's fury.

    Hope your storm passes soon and the sky begins to clear- rainbow and all.

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  10. "So you want to know what Whalin' is... Have you clapped an eye on Ahab? He says more aboot Whalin than any preacher in the churchhouse.! When ye see a man torn in two and spliced together by Sperm whale bone, then you'll know what Whalin is"

    Captain Peleg to Ishmael from Moby Dick, transcribed as best as I can from memory.
    Heres to dry land!

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  11. maybe its late but I feel like I am in some dream.....

    You say the lighthousemen were in the towers lantern, if so why did he need to come and open the door when he could just look out and see what was happening?

    Lots of myths about this picture, it was just another day for these guys.

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