The Stars and Lights project began in the fall of 2013 with a simple photographic study of an unassuming lighthouse near our Rhode Island home. It grew into a collection of well over 100 lighthouses throughout the Northeast as far west as Buffalo, as Far East as the US-Canadian border in Lubec, Maine, and as far south as Cape May, New Jersey. Along the way was wonderful cooperation from private landowners, US Coast Guard personnel, local city and town officials from mayors to managers to harbormasters.
As a New England state Vermont has the second fewest active lighthouses with four though if you consider all of Lake Champlain to be part of the state you'd then have to add several more. But the border runs through the middle of the lake and any to the west are in NY State. The US Coast Guard patrols the lake for safety and security and over the last decade have relit six of the lighthouses on the lake, a show of the commitment to the maritime history of the lighthouses.
In December 2017, the first book "Stars and Lights: The Darkest of Dark Nights" was released to critical acclaim, and it has won numerous national and international book awards. The Stars & Lights Project has been adopted by the United States Lighthouse Society, and David Zapatka has been named an Ambassador for the organization. We hope to continue the night photography on the national level, and soon the entire collection will be available through the USLHS website.
I hope you enjoy these photographs and any can be purchased from me directly at [email protected]
