San Mateo County, CA, 2007
Limited Edition Pigment Print

With California's Gold Rush came a thousand ships, many destined for a dark and splintery end on the jagged rocks of the Pacific Coast. To lessen the dangers, a phalanx of navigational beacons were constructed, the tallest of which was the iconic Pigeon Point lighthouse with its signature twenty four beams.

For a century, the original lens cast its piercing rays nightward, until in 1974, when the keepers replaced it with a modern beacon. The new light, although efficient and maintainable, lacked the romantic elegance of the first order Fresnel.

Once a year, on an evening in November, the stewards of the Pigeon Point Lighthouse recreate history and, for a few precious hours, light up the original lens. The sight is simply amazing - 24 slowly-rotating, concentrated rays of light, radiating outward into space.

From the Functionally Structural series.