Traveler and photographer Sean O’Cairde creates a unique work-in-progress through his travelogue as he visits many of California’s historical lighthouses (and one with a rich past located in Ireland.) Plenty of people are inspired by lighthouses as an artistic subject, visually and metaphorically – everyone from American master landscape painters to modern Irish folk singers. But O’Cairde goes a step beyond creating photographs and artistic representations of the places he visits with his brother – he details his experience journeying to each locale, who he meets, what he observes, any little vignettes which occur along the way. So the process of selecting subjects and taking photographs becomes artwork in itself, as much as the finished products.
We read funny anecdotes concerning asking for directions and finding one’s way through the Irish countryside, descriptions of local people and families, the history, look, and feel of each place in a way that interests both history buffs and average travelers. The spectacular photography available on the website encourages people to purchase O’Cairde’s work and to go beyond ‘fingertip travel’ on one’s computer and visit the lighthouses in person.
You may read about his journey and find more information on the artwork here: