Famous lighthouse keeper series#
Famous lighthouse keeper windows#

Roman paru aux Presses de la Cité en 1975.

(in French) Henri Queffélec : Le phare, histoire romancée de la construction du phare de la Jument au suroit d'Ouessant mêlant le travail bien réel du Service des phares et balises et la trame amoureuse d'un marin de Molène et d'une ouessantine.

(in French) Philip Plisson Guillaume Plisson et Daniel Charles, Phares majeurs de l'arc Atlantique, 2002, pp. 190–191.

^ 'La Jument, Brittany's most famous lighthouse'.

'Photographer Who Shot the Wave Appears at Lighthouse Depot'.

^ 'Uhr Was macht eigentlich.Théodore Malgorn?'.

^ Base Mérimée: Phare de la Jument, Ministère français de la Culture.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 'Lighthouses of France: Northern Finistère'.

L'Équipier ( Cinema of France: The Light, directed by Philippe Lioret).

Many of his photos are now considered to hold a historic value and his work is highly respected in Brittany. For many years Jean Guichard's quest was to portray Brittany's maritime heritage before automation took over. Lighthouses in Brittany have been automated in the past decades and La Jument itself hasn't had a keeper since 1991. La Jument's poster print has sold well over one million copies, making the Breton lighthouse the most famous lighthouse print in the world. La Jument appeared on newspapers and magazines all around the world and Guichard went on to publish a best selling book about lighthouses and a collection of poster prints. Jean Guichard's 1989 dramatic storm photo shots became an instant hit and earned him the 2nd place in the 1991 World Press Photo award. In an interview he said 'If I had been a little further away from the door, I would not have made it back into the tower. Malgorn, suddenly realising that a giant wave was about to engulf the structure, rushed back inside just in time to save his life. At that very moment, a giant wave rose over the rear of the lighthouse and Guichard took his world-famous shot as the wave smashed against the tower.

Inside the tower, Théodore Malgorn heard the helicopter and went downstairs to see what was happening. The helicopter made it to La Jument and hovered around for Guichard to take shots of the waves pounding the lighthouse. Guichard wanted to fly over the Iroise Sea despite extremely dangerous flying conditions.

Famous lighthouse keeper windows#

The waves smashed through the lower windows of the lighthouse, ripped the front door, flooded the tower and washed away the furniture.Ībout the same time, photographer Jean Guichard was in Lorient hiring a helicopter to take aerial pictures of the storm. A front of low pressure coming from Ireland brought gale-force winds and huge waves of 20 to 30 metres high which crashed spectacularly against the lighthouse. One of those infamous storms on the Iroise Sea happened on 21 December 1989. However, the waters off Brittany's west coast still remain one of the most dangerous seas in Europe with frequent violent storms, huge waves and strong currents. Over the past century La Jument lighthouse has effectively increased maritime safety in the area, known to the Bretons as Mer d'Iroise or Iroise Sea.

Famous lighthouse keeper series#

The lighthouse became well known in 1989, through a series of photographs taken by Jean Guichard. Construction began in 1904 but the lighthouse could not be finished until 1911 because of the sea's often challenging conditions. The building works were privately financed by a wealthy Frenchman who had almost died in another shipwreck. Plans to build a lighthouse on La Jument started not long after the wreck of the Glasgow-built steam ship SS Drummond Castle in June, 1896, which had resulted in the deaths of around 250 people. As a result, the area has experienced many shipwrecks over the centuries: for example, just between 18, thirty-one ships were wrecked there.

Being the westernmost point of land, it is a heavily trafficked sealane, and also experiences severe weather during much of the year. This section of the coastline of Brittany, the west coast of Northern France, had always been known by sailors to be a rugged and dangerous area. It was listed as a historic monument in 2017. Together with the Kreac'h lighthouse, they are the three most famous lighthouses of the region. There is also a very different lighthouse about 3 kilometres to the North, the Nividic lighthouse. The lighthouse is built on a rock (that is also called La Jument) about 300 metres from the coast of the island of Ushant. La Jument ('the mare') is a lighthouse in Brittany, Northwestern France.