Latest news with #lighthouse
Arab News
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Arab News
In Marseille, a shadow becomes art in Banksy's latest street mural
MARSEILLE, France: The lighthouse appeared overnight. Painted on a wall tucked away in a quiet Marseille street, its beam aligned perfectly with the real-life shadow of a metal post on the pavement. At its center, stenciled in crisp white, are the words: 'I want to be what you saw in me.' Banksy had struck again. On Friday, the elusive British street artist confirmed the work by posting two images on his official Instagram account — without caption or coordinates. Fans quickly identified the location as 1 Rue Félix Frégier, in the Catalans district of Marseille's 7th arrondissement, near the sea. Since then, crowds have gathered at the site. Tourists snap photos. Children point. Locals who usually walk past the building stop to take a closer look. There is no official explanation for the phrase. But its emotional pull is unmistakable — a quiet plea for recognition, love or redemption. Some speculate it references a country ballad by Lonestar. Others call it a love letter. Or a lament. Or both. The image is deceptively simple: a lone lighthouse, dark and weathered, casting a stark white beam. But what gives it power is the way it plays with light — the real and the painted, the seen and the imagined. The post in front of the wall becomes part of the piece. Reality becomes the frame. Marseille's mayor, Benoît Payan, was quick to react online. 'Marseille x Banksy,' he wrote, adding a flame emoji. By midday, the hashtag #BanksyMarseille was trending across France, and beyond. Though often political, Banksy's art is just as often personal, exploring themes of loss, longing and identity. In recent years, his works have appeared on war-ravaged buildings in Ukraine, in support of migrants crossing the Mediterranean and on walls condemning capitalism, Brexit, and police brutality. The artist, who has never confirmed his full identity, began his career spray-painting buildings in Bristol, England, and has become one of the world's best-known artists. His mischievous and often satirical images include two male police officers kissing, armed riot police with yellow smiley faces and a chimpanzee with a sign bearing the words, 'Laugh now, but one day I'll be in charge.' His work has sold for millions of dollars at auction, and past murals on outdoor sites have often been stolen or removed by building owners soon after going up. In December 2023, after Banksy stenciled military drones on a stop sign in south London, a man was photographed taking down the sign with bolt cutters. Police later arrested two men on suspicion of theft and criminal damage. In March 2024, an environmentally themed work on a wall beside a tree in north London was splashed with paint, covered with plastic sheeting and fenced off within days of being created. Despite the fame — or infamy — at least in Marseille, not everyone walking past noticed it. Some didn't even know who Banksy was, according to the local press. On Instagram observers say this Marseille piece feels quieter. More interior. And yet, it is no less global. The work arrives just ahead of a major Banksy retrospective opening June 14 at the Museum of Art in nearby Toulon featuring 80 works, including rare originals. Another exhibit opens Saturday in Montpellier. But the Marseille mural wasn't meant for a museum. It lives in the street, exposed to weather, footsteps and time. As of Friday evening, no barriers had been erected. No glass shield installed. Just a shadow, a beam and a message that's already circling the world.
The Independent
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
New Banksy work appears in mystery location
Banksy has unveiled a new artwork featuring a lighthouse and the phrase "I want to be what you saw in me" at an undisclosed location. The artwork, shared on Instagram, depicts a black-and-white mural of a lighthouse tower. A tag near the artwork appears to read "Yaze", a moniker used by Canadian graffiti artist Marco The Polo, who has cited Banksy as an inspiration. The phrase in the artwork may be from a song by Tennessee-based country band Lonestar, called 'Softly'. Speculation suggests the artwork could be in the French port city of Marseille.
BBC News
6 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Walkers raise £8,000 hiking around Beachy Head lighthouse
Around £8,000 has been raised by 1,000 people who took part in a challenge to walk around a lighthouse in East Sussex at low annual Beachy Head Lighthouse Challenge, which took place on Sunday, involved walkers setting off and returning to Holywell on Eastbourne seafront. The two-hour round trip walk, which is organised by Eastbourne AM Rotary Club, is only possible on certain days of the year due to tide times. The event attracts participants from all over the UK and beyond, with one couple flying in for it from the United States. Organiser Martin Wellings said: "It was another amazing day. "The weather was perfect and we were delighted at the high turnout once again."It really is a unique event which appeals to so many, both local and much further away."Profits go to local charities, while part of the funds raised are set aside towards the next re-paint of the lighthouse. The red and white stripes of Beachy Head lighthouse were repainted in 2013 after a £27,000 fundraising Trinity House had announced in 2011 that it could no longer afford to repaint the distinctive red and white stripes. That sparked a public campaign for the repainting and the first Beachy Head Lighthouse Challenge took place that year.
The Guardian
6 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
‘We're losing eyes on the coast': death of Canadian lightkeeper casts doubt on future of shoreside guardians
On a cloudy but calm morning early in April, a helicopter touched down on a string of remote islands off British Columbia's Pacific coast. One person alighted; two others climbed onboard and the aircraft rose into the sky. The lone man made his way towards Triple Island lighthouse, an octagonal concrete tower erupting from the trio of islets. Fringed with barnacles, rockweed and algae, the rocky cluster sits midway up Canada's west coast, a seascape notorious for its battering storms, heavy fog and hostile waters. Chief among the lists of tasks of lightkeepers working at the station, known to locals as 'The Rock' or 'Little Alcatraz', is to deliver weather reports every three hours. But that spring day, the first report never came. Crews tried repeatedly to raise the lighthouse keeper on various marine radio channels and his mobile phone, but all efforts were met with silence. 'Lightkeepers have a record of being perfect on their timing,' said Jim Abram, a former president of the lightkeepers union. 'If they ever miss a report, it's for an emergency.' Fear set in and a helicopter was dispatched from the Langara station lighthouse, a 20-minute flight away. When the crew touched down, they confirmed their worst fears: the lightkeeper was dead. 'You never staff a light station with only one person. Never,' said Abram. 'But that's what happened. The three other keepers that are on that station rotation are just devastated and left with a lot of questions – most of which we'll never know the answer to because, against all common sense, there was just one person on that island.' The death of the keeper, whose name has not been released, has prompted questions over workplace safety rules, shaken the tightly knit group of guardians – and renewed fears of de-staffing. As an investigation unfolds into the death, those who have served as the 'eyes and ears' in remote pockets of the country worry incident will be used as pretext to automate yet another lighthouse, putting people at greater risk in an environment that is already unforgiving and unpredictable. Of the 750 lighthouses scattered across Canada, many were first constructed in areas where safe navigation was a challenge, with the stations serving as guardrails against disaster. 'They've become symbols of a particular place and take on meanings in a profound way as anchors of local memory,' said Kate Bauer, a doctoral researcher at the University of Toronto. 'And increasingly, we associate them with a bygone era and for that reason, they tend to serve that purpose. But we forget that they were once part of a large technological system oriented towards modernizing Canada from coast to coast.' In recent decades, a global push to modernize maritime safety and navigation has increased pace, supplanting manned posts with automated warning systems – and provoking a fierce battle over the purpose of the technology. A large factor in de-staffing is the cost associated with maintaining a human presence at remote outposts. Canada's coast guard says it is not aware of any evidence that unstaffed light stations increase risks for mariners and point to a number of countries that have de-staffed their light stations. The United States offered up 10 lighthouses to the public in 2023 – either to be sold at auction or given away free of charge – after determining modern technology meant they were longer essential for navigation. Of the hundreds of lighthouses in Canada, only 51 remain staffed. Nearly half of those are on British Columbia's Pacific coast, a region that is often inaccessible except by boat and air. As a result, keepers in those stations have often taken on roles far beyond their basic responsibilities, acting as weather watchers and rescue workers. They have broken up both drug-smuggling and human-trafficking rings after spotting suspicious boasts and alerted authorities during environmental disasters. 'The fear of losing keepers is a fear that we're losing those eyes on the coast. They're often the first – and only – line of defence for something going wrong in a really sparsely populated part of the country,' said Bauer. When a plane or vehicle crashes, most often the tragedy is attributable to operator error. Humans fatigue, they are distracted and they fail. Increasingly, the solution is to automate jobs, both to save money and because of an assumption that machines can better complete the task. But as society pushes towards greater automation, there is growing fear that a blanket embrace of technology in the form of algorithms and machine learning is not always a clearcut cost or efficiency saving. Bauer points out that earlier pushes for automation have been justified in terms of potential savings, but provoked an energetic pushback from keepers who say they fulfill an irreplaceable role. 'The lightkeepers argued you can't replace the human ability to discern the way clouds are moving or the way the air smells,' he said. The four-storey tower of the Cape Mudge lighthouse, with its twin foghorns and windows capped with simple decorative pediments, stands watch over the the nearby Seymour Narrows, which the famed mariner George Vancouver described as 'one of the vilest stretches of water in the world' . Abram, who spent more than two decades as the Cape Mudge lightkeeper, says the surrounding sea can rapidly deteriorate into 'absolutely horrific' conditions in the form of standing waves, rip tides, whirlpools and back eddies. He was also the chief architect behind a highly organized fight that eventually halted the previous round of de-staffing in the 1990s and has in recent years highlighted instances in which lightkeepers saved the lives of boats in distress. During his time at Cape Mudge, vessels would call the lighthouse for accurate, real-time descriptions of the weather because the conditions reflected on their charts were already outdated. 'You get all kinds of chaotic water that is not picked up by any kind of instrument. Nothing we've devised that can pick up any of that. The only thing that can are human eyes and ears,' said Abram. 'The ship captains would just take that as gospel – because they know we know.' Meanwhile sensitive weather-monitoring equipment – and the lighthouse beacon itself – can be extremely challenging to repair in such remote areas. Abram points to a recent incident after a station on Vancouver Island was de-staffed last summer. Days after crews were removed, the powerful beacon failed. Efforts to repair the light were foiled by thick fog that prevented helicopters from accessing the site. 'You've got a C$5,000-per-hour helicopter flying as many as five highly paid technicians to do something as simple as fixing a bare wire or a burnt-out lightbulb. Little things [a] lightkeeper can do in minutes can take days or weeks because weather prevents crews from accessing sites that are, in their nature, inaccessible,' he said. A Canadian Senate report from 2010 found the cost savings from automating the remaining lighthouses were minimal, given the scope of risks posed. The report also found a number of other of benefits to using lightkeepers, who can take valuable readings of the local environments, including daily temperature and seawater salinity testing alongside detailed marine wildlife counts. 'The views we heard on both coasts were overwhelmingly in favour of keeping the keepers,' said authors of the Seeing the Light report. 'And that is what we are unanimously recommending.' The Senate committee found that while most developed countries have pushed forward with de-staffing, others, including Ireland and Australia, have returned keepers to some stations. In Canada, while the pace of de-staffing has slowed dramatically, it hasn't halted. Last year, the coastguard said it would remove staff from both the Carmanah Point and Pachena Point light stations on Vancouver Island, arguing that the ground was unstable. And recently, a staffing shortage has meant a number of stations – including the nearby Langara Point lighthouse – have been maintained by a single person. The coastguard and the union representing lightkeepers have declined to comment publicly, citing the ongoing nature of the investigation. Critics of the de-staffing push fear the fatality at Triple Island will serve as a useful pretext to remove a human presence from the station. Since the investigation into the incident began in early April, no staff have been at the island. 'I've long worried about Triple Island and the critical role it plays in marine safety, losing its staff,' said Abram. 'Is our biggest fear coming true? I worry it is.'
Forbes
26-05-2025
- Forbes
5 Historic Lighthouses To Visit In Nova Scotia
Heavy surf crashes ashore at Peggy's Cove Lighthouse during a strong Autumn storm. getty The province of Nova Scotia is a peninsula—but what's more than that is you're never more than about forty miles from the coastline, and with more than eight thousand miles of coast line on the parameters of the province, you'll also come to find that the province has its fair share of active and historical lighthouses. There are over a hundred and sixty lighthouses dotted throughout the province—but if you're looking to visit the most beautiful or historically relevant beacons of light, you'll want to add the following to your itinerary. Here are five stunning historic lighthouses to visit in Nova Scotia: Peggy's Cove lighthouse at sunset with dramatic clouds and a surf. getty Peggy's Cove Lighthouse—also known as Peggy's Point Lighthouse—is a symbol of Nova Scotia and by far the most popular lighthouse visit for tourists and locals alike. The historic lighthouse is by far one of the biggest tourist attractions in the province, sitting atop a mound of granite rock that juts out directly into the ocean. The jagged rocks are open for visitors to explore and take photos—but it's vital to heed the warnings and stay far from any wet rocks; visitors who aren't cautious are swept to sea from unpredictable waves every year and unfortunately, many have died. Drone shot of Georges Island (National Historic Site) located in the Halifax Harbour, Dartmouth can be seen on the other side of the water. The island has fortifications and used to function as a prison and an Acadian internment camp. getty The Georges Island Lighthouse is the easiest lighthouse to catch a glimpse of if you're planning on sticking around the Halifax city center. The lighthouse is perched upon Georges Island right in the middle of the Halifax Harbour and can be seen from the boardwalk. It's also worth noting that ferries are available to take passengers from the boardwalk straight to Georges Island, allowing visitors to see the lighthouse up close and get a different vantage point of the Halifax skyline. Cape Forchu Lightstation (built 1962) near Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada - Lighthouse on Volcanic Rock Coastline (Headland) - Yarmouth & Acadian Shores Region ca. getty The Cape Forchu Lighthouse just outside of Yarmouth is a must-visit for film aficionados. The Lighthouse, starring Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson, was filmed on the lighthouse grounds in 2018. The sprawling park also makes a stunning coastal walking trail with unobstructed views of the hexagonal tower and the ocean below. Louisbourg Lighthouse - Nova Scotia - Canada getty The Louisbourg Lighthouse is the fourth lighthouse to be built on the site in Louisbourg, with the first being the first-ever lighthouse in Canada (which was eventually demolished after it was badly damaged in 1758 during the Final Siege of Louisbourg). The current tower is a twin to the Georges Island Lighthouse but the landscape of the surrounding Louisbourg Lighthouse Trail makes it well worth a visit. Landscape of Sambro Island Lighthouse, Nova Scotia, Canada. getty The Sambro Island Lighthouse at the entrance to the Halifax Harbour is the oldest surviving lighthouse in all of North America. It was constructed in 1759 and can be viewed from Crystal Crescent Beach, which makes a great excuse to squeeze an extra beach day into your trip to Atlantic Canada.
