The Base Point by Mitsuru Sakurai

The Base Point is a series of photographs that considers lighthouses as ‘baseline points’. In Japan, lighthouses are said to be an evolution of the use of noroshi (smoke signals) in ancient times, when smoke was used in the daytime and signal fires were used at night to act as landmarks for ships travelling to and from Tang Dynasty-era China.

The first Western-style lighthouse was built in 1869, and they became essential for safe sea travel. However, with the spread of GPS technology, many lighthouses have outlived their usefulness. There are still 64 functioning lighthouses in Japan; the lighthouses shown in this series remain in operation at their respective capes. In order to highlight the beauty of the lighthouses I took two horizontal photographs and joined them to create a larger image, before adjusting the colours and contrast.