The Light on the Edge of Darkness by Photography, Scott Sewell and Jewelry, Ling-Yen Jones

Scott will be exhibiting at the Whale Watch Room with Ling-Yen’s jewelry.

Artist Statement – Scott Sewell

I don’t remember when I saw Point Arena Lighthouse for the first time. We passed through the area on family vacations several times in my childhood but I have no specific recollection of it. When I was 19, my brother and I drove south along Highway 1 late at night and I do remember the flash of the light in the distance as we crossed over the Garcia River. The tower itself was only vaguely visible but the tremendous reach of the lens was apparent in the light fog.

When I returned to the area in 2017, I was looking for cliffs and crashing waves as a subject for my newly sharpened photography skills. While I remembered the coastline, I did not remember the tall, cylindrical Lighthouse that guarded it.

When I got there, I was fascinated. The tower looked different than any other lighthouse I had ever seen. It was more like a giant candlestick than the conical shape I was familiar with. It was built in 1870 and had a twin in Santa Cruz at Pigeon Point. I soon learned that it was cast concrete rebuilt from its original design after the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Its lantern room and the spiral staircase leading to it were its only original equipment. Its great first order lens was replaced due to the mercury in its rotating base some  years later and the light’s reach was thirty miles when it was built but now was only 10 miles.

As I explored the area looking for places to shoot, it became clear why the Lighthouse was there. The ancient sandstone layers which make up the local sea bottom and the nearby cliffs have been tilted upward by plate movements over the last 20 million years to form reefs with razor sharp edges. This is easily seen on a walk from the Stornetta lands parking area to the Lighthouse. At the end of Point Arena, the most dangerous reef of all can be seen about a mile offshore as turbulence and wave action just below the surface. Ships seeking refuge in Manchester Bay to the north would run aground here and the Lighthouse was placed here to warn them.

For a photographer, the angles and views are endless. The Lighthouse can be shot from the south on fingers of land in Stornetta; from the point itself; from the hill along the Garcia River; and from the beaches of Manchester to the north. Over time, I have shot from them all. Of course, the Mendocino Coast is famous for its sunsets with its colorful skies in shades of red and orange. This often provides a dramatic backdrop for my photography.

For me, though, it is in the night under a full moon with the ground lights illuminating the tower that has the deepest meaning. There the Point Arena Lighthouse stands against the wind, the stars and the raging surf as a sentinel against the 4,500 miles of ocean to the west. It gives me pause and time to reflect. It is then that it truly feels like the light on the edge of darkness.