Point Arena Lighthouse Fresnel Lens Glass and Brass Black and White Abstract
by Kathleen Bishop
Title
Point Arena Lighthouse Fresnel Lens Glass and Brass Black and White Abstract
Artist
Kathleen Bishop
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Black and white abstract photograph showing slices of concentric, annular rings refracting metallic light from a glass and brass First-order Fresnel Lens built in Paris by Barbier, Benard, & Turenne in 1907.
This Fresnel lens, weighing several tons and measuring over 6 feet wide, is comprised of 258 hand-ground glass prisms held together by a solid brass framework. It was placed atop the 115-foot tower of the new Point Arena Lighthouse in 1908, that replaced an earlier lighthouse destroyed by the 1906 earthquake, where it floated on a vat of mercury and beamed its beacon 25 nautical miles out to sea every 6 seconds. It was dissembled and removed from the top of the lighthouse in 2008, and was cleaned and reassembled in the historic 1896 fog signal building, which is now a museum.
The Fresnel lens was invented by French Physicist Augustin Fresnel in 1822. He designed the center of the brass and glass construction to be shaped like a magnifying glass that produces a powerful beam, while concentric rings of prismatic glass above and below bend the light into a narrow, concentrated beacon that can be seen from aboard ships up to 25 nautical miles away.
This fine art black and white photograph is being offered in very large vertical format, suitable for printing at large dimensions.
Uploaded
January 7th, 2021
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