In the middle of the storm: did the lighthouse keeper from the legendary photograph survive?

For the query “lighthouse in a storm,” search engines return one of the most popular photographs of the elements, depicting the French lighthouse of the Mare (La Jument) and its keeper. According to the popular version, he allegedly just went out to smoke in a storm, and the photograph demonstrates human composure and fearlessness.

Let's figure out what really happened...

The province of Brittany in northwestern France forms a large peninsula. Brittany's coastline is one of the most dangerous, with strong storms, huge waves and strong currents.

Between 1888 and 1904, more than three dozen ships were wrecked here. It is for this reason that a third of France's lighthouses are located here. One of the most popular is the lighthouse, which is built on a rock called La Jument, which translates from French as “the mare.”

Look at this photo taken at the beginning of the lighthouse construction. It’s hard to comprehend how in 1906 it was possible to firmly anchor the foundation of an almost 50-meter tower on such a small piece of rock. And this despite the fact that this place is constantly exposed to 30-meter waves.

The lighthouse was built directly into the sea on a rocky spur not far from the shore. Its height is 47 meters.

This is how lighthouse keepers usually change.

So let's go back to our first photo.

The lighthouse gained additional fame thanks to the photographer Jean Guichard.

It all happened on December 21, 1989, when Jean decided to photograph the storm from a helicopter. He also took photographs of the lighthouse. But it turned out that the storm was so strong that the waves broke through the doors of the lighthouse and partially washed out the furniture and other things. At this time, the manager Theodore Malgorn was in the lighthouse, awaiting evacuation.

Theodore, hearing the sound of the photographer's helicopter, mistook it for a rescue helicopter. He went down to the “back” doors of the lighthouse and went outside.

This exact moment is captured in the photo - the lighthouse was covered by a 20-30-meter wave.

It is worth noting that thanks to his reaction (Theodore rushed back inside the lighthouse), the keeper remained alive.

This video of the La Jument lighthouse was taken on December 7, 2007 at Raz de Sein on the western tip of France, in Brittany, on a very cloudy and stormy day. This lonely lighthouse seems like some kind of fantastic outpost on the edge of civilization.