A walk at a park in North Sydney. Another gorgeous winters day.
Life Trove
A celebration of treasured moments
July 26, 2026
A stroll with Xenia after lunch
Lighthouses
"I can think of no other edifice constructed by man as altruistic as a lighthouse. They were built only to serve." George Bernard Shaw
Why I love lighthouses
There has always been something about lighthouses that draws me in. They carry the weight of history, standing through storms, wars, changing coastlines and countless human stories. Each one has watched generations come and go, quietly fulfilling the purpose for which it was built. They are monuments not to power or glory, but to service.
Perhaps that is why they feel so deeply symbolic. A lighthouse does not force its light on anyone; it simply shines, offering guidance to those who choose to navigate by it. There is something profoundly beautiful in that image. And then there is their sheer visual presence. Perched on rugged cliffs, lonely islands or windswept headlands, they are among the most photogenic structures ever created—where engineering, landscape, history and metaphor come together in a way that never fails to stir my imagination.
Map of lighthouses I've photographed
All posts tagged "lighthouse"
Sydney
- Barrenjoey Lighthouse (Palm Beach)
- Hornby Lighthouse (Watsons Bay)
- Macquarie Lighthouse (Vaucluse)
- Cape Bowling Green Lighthouse (Pyrmont)
- Bradleys Head
- Robertsons Point Lighthouse (Cremorne)
- Flagstaff Point Lighthouse & Breakwater Lighthouse (Wollongong)
Australia wide
- Kiama (NSW)
- Point Perpendicular (Jervis Bay, NSW)
- Great Ocean Road (Victoria)
- Freycinet (Tasmania)
- Nobby Lighthouse (Newcastle, NSW)
South Africa
- Cape Point (Cape Town)
- Green Point (Cape Town)
- Kalk Bay (Cape Town)
- Port St Johns (Transkei)
July 25, 2026
Great movies starring lighthouses
Lighthouses are my current photography project, and over the past few months I've found myself increasingly fascinated by their history, architecture, and symbolism. They've also reminded me just how often they appear in cinema—not merely as dramatic backdrops, but as central characters in their own right. Their isolation, mystery, and enduring presence make them perfect settings for stories about hope, obsession, revelation, and the human condition. Here are two films that use lighthouses to unforgettable effect.
Shutter Island (2010)
Although Shutter Island is best remembered as a psychological thriller, its lighthouse is one of the film's most powerful and enduring images. Perched on the edge of the island, it looms over the story as a place of mystery, fear, and hidden truths. For much of the film, the lighthouse represents everything the protagonist believes is being concealed from him, drawing both him and the audience towards its secrets. By the end, it becomes clear that the lighthouse is not simply a location but a symbol of the film's deeper themes of reality, illusion, and the stories we tell ourselves to avoid painful truths. Few films have used a lighthouse so effectively as both a dramatic setting and a psychological metaphor.
The Lighthouse (2019)
July 25, 2026
Wollongong's two lighthouses
Wollongong is unique on Australia's east coast in having two historic lighthouses standing within sight of one another. Set against the sweeping backdrop of the Pacific Ocean, dramatic cliffs, and the Illawarra Escarpment, they create one of the country's most picturesque coastal scenes. I was very excited to spend a couple of hours here photographing the lighthouses and enjoying the town.
Flagstaff Point Lighthouse
Flagstaff Point Lighthouse is the best-known landmark in Wollongong and one of the most recognisable lighthouses on the New South Wales coast. Standing on Flagstaff Hill at the entrance to Wollongong Harbour, it was completed in 1936 to improve navigation into the increasingly important industrial port of Port Kembla. The lighthouse was one of the first in New South Wales to be fully automated, reflecting advances in lighthouse technology during the early twentieth century. Today it continues to operate as an active navigational aid while also attracting thousands of visitors each year. Its commanding position offers panoramic views of the coastline, the harbour, and the Illawarra Escarpment, making it one of the region's most photographed locations.
Breakwater Lighthouse
Art and Culture
Art does not reproduce what we see. It makes us see. Paul Klee
Art
- Favourite artists
- Art exhibits
- Art Gallery of NSW
- Contemporary Art Museum
- Sculpture
- Grafitti & street art
- Exhibits
- Photography exhibits
Shows & Concerts
July 24, 2026
Quotes about lighthouses
Lighthouses serve simply by standing there and shining
- Lighthouses are more helpful than churches. Benjamin Franklin
- A holy life will produce the deepest impression. Lighthouses blow no horns; they only shine. Dwight L. Moody
- Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining. Anne Lamott
- I can think of no other edifice constructed by man as altruistic as a lighthouse. They were built only to serve. George Bernard Shaw
- A lighthouse is not interested in who gets its light! It just gives it without thinking! Giving light is its nature! Mehmet Murat Ildan
- A lighthouse doesn't save the ships; it doesn't go out and rescue them, it's just this pillar that helps to guide people home. Lea Michele
- What does a lighthouse do? It never moves. It cannot hike up its rocky skirt and dash into the ocean to rescue the foundering ship. It cannot calm the waters or clear the shoals. It can only cast light into the darkness. It can only point the way. Yet, through one lighthouse, you guide many ships. Show this old lighthouse the way. Lisa Wingate
Lighthouses comfort and protect
- ...a lighthouse in the distance shows a cheerful gleaming eye... J. F. Dahlgren
- The lighthouse shines across the sea; The homing fieldfares sing for glee: 'Behold the shore!' Ada Cambridge
- The lighthouse that stands unintentionally stoic and tall and lights the way for those out at sea. Buffy Sammons
- A lighthouse keeps sailors from danger, to navigate from danger out there. The light is a comforting thing to see. Catherine Drinker Bowen
Every lighthouse has a story
- Lighthouses are not just stone, brick, metal, and glass. There's a human story at every lighthouse; that's the story I want to tell. Elinor DeWire
Your true self is a lighthouse
- Is the beam from a lighthouse affected by howling wind and rain? It remains perfectly steadfast and unaffected by the storm. Your true self is like that. Nothing can ever harm you once you are consciously aware that it is so. Vernon Howard
Be like a lighthouse by shining your light
- An awake heart is like a lighthouse helping others to find a safe way home. Rolf van der Wind
- Man must behave like a lighthouse; he must shine day and night for the goodness of everyman. Mehmet Murat Ildan
- I feel that we’re all lighthouses, and my job is to shine my light as brightly as I can to the darkness. Jim Carrey
- Be the lighthouse that bears the torment of the storm, but never forget to show the saving lights of life. Debasish Mridha
- Like a simple little lighthouse, my true ideal is to just be... having no trace of seeking, desiring, imitating, or striving, only light and peace. Bodhi Smith
- To be a lighthouse, you must be strong enough to resist every kind of storm, to every kind of loneliness and you must have a powerful light inside you! Mehmet Murat Ildan
Friends are like lighthouses
- Friends are like Lighthouses, with the sources of light coming from their hearts. Tom Baker
- A true friend who leaves heartfelt messages can be a lighthouse to others, sharing light and truth. Tom Baker
Love is like a lighthouse
- The love within them shone as brightly as the lighthouse beam on the darkest, stormiest night. Jody Hedlund
Books and wisdom are like lighthouses
- Books are lighthouses erected in the great sea of time. Edwin Percy Whipple
- A wise person is like a lighthouse. We are looking for their lights and follow them when we are in danger. Debasish Mridha
- A good book is a lighthouse; a wise man is a lighthouse; conscience is a lighthouse; compassion is a lighthouse; science is a lighthouse! They all show us the true path! Keep them in your life to remain safe in the rocky and dark waters of life! Mehmet Murat Ildan
Original writers should be like lighthouses
- For me, a writer should be more like a lighthouse keeper, just out there by himself. He shouldn’t get his ideas from other people all around him. Robert M. Pirsig
The antithesis of a lighthouse
- Scepticism is a barren coast, without a harbor or lighthouse. Henry Ward Beecher
- Metaphysics is a dark ocean without shores or lighthouse, strewn with many a philosophic wreck. Immanuel Kant
Thought provoking quotes about lighthouses
- The past is a lighthouse not a port. Russian Proverb
- At the foot of the lighthouse it is dark. Japanese proverb
- A fallen lighthouse is more dangerous than a reef. Navjot Singh Sidhu
- If you close your eyes, no lighthouse can help you! Mehmet Murat ildan
- The lighthouse does great service to humanity yet it is the slave to those who trim the lamps. Alice Wellington Rollins
- God built lighthouses to see people through storms. Then he built storms to remind people to find lighthouses. Shannon L. Alder
- Lighthouses are endlessly suggestive signifiers of both human isolation and our ultimate connectedness to each other. Virginia Woolf
Final thoughts
- She is like a revolving lighthouse; pitch darkness alternating with a dazzling brilliancy! Henry James
- The meagre lighthouse all in white, haunting the seaboard, as if it were the ghost of an edifice that had once had colour and rotundity, dripped melancholy tears after its late buffeting by the waves. Charles Dickens
Lighthouse poems
A lighthouse may seem old and cracked
But can save you when you fight against the gale
And so you look for a pair of bright eyes
When everything else seems to fail.
Morten Maehre
The lighthouse shines across the sea;
The homing fieldfares sing for glee:
‘Behold the shore!
Ada Cambridge
And as the evening darkens, lo! how bright,
Through the deep purple of the twilight air,
Beams forth the sudden radiance of its light
With strange, unearthly splendour in its glare!
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The lighthouse lost its beam
And now all I see
Is the face of the cliffs between the moonlight waxing.
Garrett Michael Zablocki
July 24, 2026
Favourite photographers: Yann Arthus Bertrand
Yann Arthus-Bertrand has had a profound influence on the way I see both photography and the world itself. I still remember visiting his Earth from Above exhibition in London in 2001 and being completely blown away. Seeing the planet from the air revealed patterns, colours and landscapes that I had never imagined. It was one of those rare experiences that permanently changed the way I looked at the Earth.
What I especially love about Arthus-Bertrand's work is the idea that the world itself is a work of art. His photographs reveal a planet of astonishing beauty, where rivers, deserts, forests and mountains become abstract masterpieces when viewed from above. At the same time, his work carries a deeper message—that this beauty is precious and worth protecting. He reminds me that photography can do more than create beautiful images. It can awaken wonder, deepen our appreciation of the world, and encourage us to become better stewards of this extraordinary work of art that we call home.
July 24, 2026
People who inspire me: Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein has always been one of the people I most admire. Of course, he revolutionised our understanding of the universe, but what draws me to him is something deeper than his scientific achievements. I love his insatiable curiosity, his childlike sense of wonder, and his willingness to embrace mystery rather than pretend to have all the answers. He reminds me that the greatest minds are often the most humble in the face of the unknown.
As someone who loves collecting quotes, many of my favourites are Einstein's. They reveal a side of him that is often overlooked—a man who was not only a brilliant scientist, but also a deeply philosophical and spiritual thinker. He understood that imagination, awe and mystery are essential parts of the human experience, and that science and spirituality need not be in conflict. His life is a reminder that the pursuit of truth is at its best when it is guided not only by intellect, but also by curiosity, humility and a profound sense of wonder.
July 24, 2026
People who inspire me: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt
Watching Ken Burns' documentary The Roosevelts gave me a completely new appreciation for Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. I came away deeply impressed not only by what they accomplished, but by the strength of character they displayed through extraordinary adversity. Franklin's determination after being paralysed by polio was remarkable. Rather than allowing it to define him, he developed an inner resilience that helped him lead the United States through both the Great Depression and the Second World War. His optimism, calmness and ability to inspire confidence during times of immense uncertainty made him one of the most consequential leaders of the twentieth century.
I was equally inspired by Eleanor Roosevelt. She was far more than a First Lady; she became one of the great advocates for human rights and social justice. Despite her own difficult upbringing and personal struggles, she dedicated her life to serving others and giving a voice to those who had been overlooked. What impressed me most about the Roosevelts was the way they complemented one another. Franklin provided visionary leadership at moments of national crisis, while Eleanor expanded the nation's moral vision through compassion and courage. Together they showed how resilience, purpose and service can leave a lasting impact on the world.
July 24, 2026
Favourite photographers: Heni Cartier-Bresson
Another of the photographers I admire most is Henri Cartier-Bresson. What appeals to me isn't just the beauty of his photographs, but the way he observed the world. He had an extraordinary ability to recognise the significance of an ordinary moment and capture it at exactly the right instant. His idea of the "decisive moment" reminds me that the difference between an ordinary photograph and a remarkable one often comes down to patience, awareness and timing.
I also appreciate that Cartier-Bresson didn't try to control or stage his subjects. He trusted life to provide the moment rather than trying to create it himself. His photographs have a naturalness and authenticity that still feels fresh today. Looking at his work encourages me to slow down, pay closer attention, and remember that some of the most compelling images come from simply being present and noticing what others might miss.
July 24, 2026
Favourite artists: Salvadore Dali
One of the artists I find most fascinating is Salvador DalÃ. At first glance his paintings seem bizarre, almost dreamlike, but the longer I look at them the more they invite reflection. They challenge my assumptions about reality, time and identity, and remind me that the world we experience is not always as fixed or straightforward as it appears. His work rewards curiosity, revealing new details and meanings each time I return to it.
What I admire most is DalÃ's imagination and technical brilliance. However strange his visions were, he painted them with extraordinary precision, making the impossible feel almost believable. His art encourages me to think beyond the obvious and to appreciate the power of symbolism and metaphor. In many ways, his paintings feel less like images to be understood and more like invitations to explore the deeper landscape of the mind.
July 24, 2026
Favourite photographers: Amsel Adams
One of the photographers I admire most is Ansel Adams. His landscapes have an extraordinary sense of clarity, scale and stillness. He had a remarkable ability to reveal the beauty of the natural world, not by exaggerating it, but by helping us see what was already there. His photographs remind me that nature is full of grandeur, subtlety and order if we take the time to look carefully.
What I appreciate most about Adams is the combination of artistry and craftsmanship. He was a master of light, composition and tonal range, creating images that feel both technically perfect and deeply emotional. His work inspires me not only to become a better photographer, but also to spend more time in wild places, slowing down and paying closer attention. His photographs are a reminder that some of life's greatest experiences come simply from being present in nature.
July 23, 2026
Favourite artists: Leonardo da Vinci
What fascinates me about Leonardo da Vinci is not just that he was a brilliant artist, but that he seemed endlessly curious about almost everything. Painting, anatomy, engineering, architecture, geology, flight - he approached each subject with the same desire to understand how the world really works. He reminds me that creativity and curiosity are inseparable, and that the most rewarding discoveries often happen at the intersection of different fields.
I also admire Leonardo's ability to combine scientific observation with artistic vision. He looked at nature with extraordinary care, believing that the closer we observe reality, the deeper our understanding becomes. His notebooks reveal someone who never stopped asking questions or seeking better ways of seeing. His life encourages me to remain curious, to keep learning, and to remember that the pursuit of understanding can be just as important as the answers themselves.
July 23, 2026
Favourite artists: Michelangelo
Another of the artists I admire most is Michelangelo. His work combines an extraordinary level of technical mastery with a profound understanding of the human form. Whether in sculpture, painting or architecture, he had an unmatched ability to express strength, beauty and emotion. I still remember visiting Rome in 1996 and standing beneath the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel for the first time. I was completely blown away. No photograph had prepared me for the scale, complexity and sheer brilliance of what he created.
What I find especially inspiring is the way Michelangelo seemed to see potential where others saw only raw stone. His famous idea that the sculpture already existed within the marble, and that his task was simply to reveal it, has always resonated with me. It feels like a powerful metaphor for life itself—that beneath the surface there is something waiting to be uncovered through patience, effort and vision. His work reminds me that great art is not only about skill, but about revealing something deeper that was there all along.
July 23, 2026
Favourite artists: Monet
July 23, 2026
Favourite artists: Picasso
Pablo Picasso fascinates me because he refused to see the world in conventional ways. He was never content simply to reproduce what the eye could already see. Instead, he explored different perspectives, broke familiar forms apart, and rebuilt them into something entirely new. His work reminds me that creativity often begins by questioning assumptions rather than accepting them.
What I admire most is Picasso's willingness to keep evolving throughout his life. He constantly experimented, took risks, and reinvented his style instead of repeating what had already made him successful. That commitment to exploration is deeply inspiring. It encourages me to stay curious, to keep learning, and to remember that growth often comes from having the courage to look at familiar things from a completely different perspective.
July 23, 2026
Favourite artists: Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir's paintings always leave me with a sense of warmth and joy. He had an extraordinary ability to capture the beauty of everyday life—friends talking, families gathering, children playing, people enjoying a meal or an afternoon outdoors. His work reminds me that life's most meaningful moments are often the simplest ones, and that ordinary human experiences can be deeply beautiful.
What I appreciate most is the sense of light and humanity that runs through his paintings. His subjects feel alive, relaxed and connected, never posed or distant. Looking at his work encourages me to notice those same moments in my own life and photography—the shared smile, the quiet conversation, the warmth of sunlight on people simply enjoying being together. Renoir reminds me that beauty is not only found in dramatic landscapes or extraordinary events, but also in the richness of everyday human life.
July 23, 2026
Favourite artists: Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse reminds me that creativity is ultimately about vision, not technique. His work is full of colour, simplicity and joy, yet behind that apparent simplicity is a remarkable ability to communicate emotion with the fewest possible elements. He had a gift for stripping away the unnecessary and revealing the essence of a subject, showing that great art doesn't always need complexity to have a profound impact.
One of the things I find most inspiring about Matisse is what he did later in life. When illness meant he could no longer paint in the traditional way, he refused to stop creating. Instead, he began making his famous cut-outs, using painted sheets of coloured paper that he cut into bold, expressive shapes. Rather than seeing his physical limitations as the end of his artistic life, he turned them into the beginning of a completely new chapter. His example reminds me that creativity is ultimately a state of mind, and that obstacles can become opportunities if we are willing to adapt and keep creating.
July 23, 2026
Favourite artists: Frida Kahlo
July 23, 2026
Favourite artists: Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh's paintings have always had a special place in my heart. There is an intensity and emotional honesty in his work that is unlike anyone else's. His use of colour, texture and movement gives his paintings a remarkable sense of life, making landscapes, skies and everyday scenes feel almost alive. I vividly remember visiting the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in 1997 after having a joint. Standing in front of his original paintings, I was completely blown away. Seeing the thickness of the paint and the energy of every brushstroke was an experience I'll never forget.
What I admire most about Van Gogh is his ability to find beauty and meaning in ordinary subjects. Whether he was painting a field of wheat, a chair, a pair of old boots or a night sky, he brought an extraordinary depth of feeling to his work. His paintings remind me that art is not simply about recording what we see, but about revealing how we experience the world. They continue to inspire me to look more carefully, feel more deeply, and appreciate the beauty that surrounds us every day.
July 23, 2026
Memorable moments: The pot plant contingency
When I was in my early twenties, I went to see the doctor. I can't recall the exact reason for the visit, but at one point, he decided he needed a urine sample.
"Oh dear," I said, wincing. "I actually just went to the loo right before I came in."
"Not to worry," he replied smoothly. "I only need a tiny drop."
He handed me a small plastic container, gestured to the room, and stepped outside to give me some privacy.
I positioned the bottle and began, pleasantly surprised and relieved that my body was cooperating enough to squeeze out a modest sample. But then, to my great surprise, the flow didn't taper off. In fact, it gathered momentum.
I watched in mounting panic as the fluid reached a quarter full... then half full... then three-quarters full—and I was still going at full throttle.
Oh no, I thought, a wave of sheer desperation hitting me. The bottle isn't big enough! What on earth am I going to do?!
Panic-driven calculations raced through my mind. Stepping out into the packed waiting room mid-stream was obviously out of the question. I scanned the small consultation room with wide, manic eyes. My gaze darted to a potted plant in the corner—could I get away with watering the Ficus? Then I looked at the window—could I somehow crack it open and aim for the flowerbed outside without the passersby noticing?
Just as I was on the absolute brink of making a terrible, life-altering decision, the tide miraculously turned. The flow sputtered and stopped, leaving the urine exactly one inch from the absolute brim.
A moment later, the doctor walked back in. He took one look at the sloshing, overflowing vessel handed to him by the young man who five minutes earlier insisted his tank was completely empty, and stood there in silent, utter astonishment.
July 22, 2026
Favourite directors: Christopher Nolan
I’ve just come home from seeing The Odyssey, and once again I was reminded why Christopher Nolan is my favourite filmmaker working today. Every time I walk out of one of his films, I feel like I've experienced something rather than simply watched it. His movies linger. They invite reflection. They make me want to see them again—not just to catch what I missed, but because they continue unfolding long after the credits roll.
Part of his genius lies in the remarkable creative team he has built around him. He has worked alongside his wife and producer, Emma Thomas, since the very beginning, and his brother Jonathan has been instrumental in shaping many of his greatest stories. More recently, editor Jennifer Lame has brought extraordinary rhythm and emotional precision to his films. It's a reminder that while Nolan is a visionary, great art is often born from enduring creative partnerships.
Then there are the stories themselves. Nobody constructs a narrative quite like Nolan. The Prestige remains, in my view, one of the greatest screenplays ever written, with not one but two breathtaking twists that completely transform everything that came before. Memento turned storytelling inside out, allowing us to experience memory loss rather than simply observe it. Interstellar somehow combines hard science, breathtaking spectacle and one of the most moving father-daughter stories ever put on screen. And the ending of Inception—that spinning top—may be the perfect ending because it leaves us wrestling with a deeper question than whether Cobb is dreaming: what is reality, and does our experience of it ultimately matter more than certainty?
But what elevates Nolan above almost every other blockbuster director is that he's never really making films about explosions, spies, superheroes or space travel. Those are simply the vehicles. Beneath them lie profound existential questions. What is time? What is identity? How much of who we are is memory? Can love transcend space and time? What is sacrifice? How should we live when faced with uncertainty? He trusts his audience to engage with these questions rather than reducing them to simple answers.
Perhaps that's why his films resonate with me so deeply. They embody what I believe great art should do. Great art doesn't merely entertain—it expands consciousness. It stretches the imagination, deepens our perception, and leaves us seeing ourselves and reality a little differently than before.
After The Odyssey, I'm more convinced than ever that Christopher Nolan isn't just one of the great filmmakers of our time. He's one of the great storytellers. And in a culture that often underestimates the power of story, that's a rare and precious gift.
















































