Jack Lowe

Jack Lowe

Author

Jack Lowe is a photographer and Founder of the Lifeboat Station Project.

Inspired by his childhood love of lifeboats and photography, he has made it his mission to photograph every single lifeboat station (237 of them) and crew in the British Isles, using original Victorian glass-plate photographic techniques. Jack travels around the country in a decommissioned NHS ambulance (nicknamed Neena), which he uses as a mobile darkroom. It’s an extraordinary, unique and rather eccentric British adventure, with a singular purpose – to record and celebrate the bravery and hard work of the 1000s of volunteer lifeboat men and women who risk their lives to save others.
The project began in January 2015 and has already gathered a huge amount of publicity, from across the world, including on the BBC and ITV, the Times and the Telegraph, and is fully supported by the RNLI – see here:  lifeboatstationproject.com/press
The Lifeboat Station Project will not only provide an extraordinary photographic record of a unique institution (see the gallery section of the website here: lifeboatstationproject.com/galleries ) but also an opportunity to revisit the history of each station and to recount the many stories of rescues, tragedies and feats of bravery, as well as providing an unusual and unexpected portrait of our coastline.

The Lifeboat Station Project @ProjectLifeboat

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿The @RNLI in Wales has announced that lifeboat launches increased by 8% last year. The charity is putting out its own Mayday as it faces another busy summer. To sign up for Mayday Mile, or to make a donation visit http://RNLI.org/supportMayday

Just read & listened to my friend Jack’s @MrJackLowe lifeboat station post - & I have tears in my eyes for many reasons. Beautiful post! Listen & savour “Slipway Sounds: High Tide at Barrow Lifeboat Station” https://lifeboatstationproject.com/2022/12/04/barrow-slipway-sounds/ via @ProjectLifeboat

If you haven't seen these magnificent photos on glass of Lifeboat stations & staff around the UK then I suggest you settle in for a good look. Dozens of these images on the mood board for our next screenplay about love, loyalty and lifeboats in a Scottish seaside village. https://twitter.com/ProjectLifeboat/status/1638843205071273984

If the #RNLI did weddings....

#NewlyWeds @PorthcawlRNLI https://twitter.com/BBCBreakfast/status/1638460841577021443

Uplifting feedback from a longstanding stateside patron:

"Your work is an inspiration. I haven’t seen a finer, more handsome and beautifully working website. If a website can possibly qualify as a work of art, The Lifeboat Station Project is one."

✨⚓️✨ http://lifeboatstationproject.com

A unique RNLI wedding. 💒

@PorthcawlRNLI volunteers had to rush away from fellow crew member Mark Broadway's wedding to help two people cut off by the tide.

Luckily the casualties were rescued, and Mark and fiancée Jessie Wilde were both able to say 'I do'!

#RNLI #NewlyWeds

Super proud of Rachel, who’s also one of my LSP patrons! ✨⚓️✨

📣 After months of training both theory & practical (including knowing how to check all fluid levels), support & training from fellow volunteers I am the first ever woman in Sheringham qualified to launch & recover our @RNLI Lifeboat. @claytonengltd @ProjectLifeboat #Volunteer 😊 https://twitter.com/SheringhamRNLI/status/1638501811634991105

Love this photo of two Irish volunteer lifeboat crew taken by Jack Lowe, a mother and daughter. The painstaking process he uses gets something special from his subjects. 🎞️ https://twitter.com/ProjectLifeboat/status/1637519848925265922

To all those celebrating #MothersDay, I hope you’ve had an excellent time.

To mark the day, here’s an inspirational lifesaving mother with her daughter — Moira and Sîle from @BallycottonRNLI photographed on 12x10 inch glass in September 2017.

I’m sure many of you will have met Jetstream Jonny, one of my excellent friends who’s assisted me on the project over the years:

Ferry Life

“During a period of human life when there’s very good reason to break our jet-setting habits, I hope these few minutes of escapism also remind us that there’s so much splendour right on our doorstep…”

A four minute film I made in 2020:

https://lifeboatstationproject.com/2020/12/01/ferry-life/

⛴️🎞️

Low stock of the ‘slight seconds’ after several were snapped up yesterday.

Not sure when I’ll be ordering more, so this may be your last chance to buy a #WithCourageKeyring for a while.

£7 plus a little bit of P&P: https://lifeboatstationproject.com/trinkets/

1 year ago today we took delivery of our new @RNLI @claytonengltd “bendy” upgraded to Talus MB-4H Mk 2 🤓 She’s a incredibly powerful beast,it was great to see her put through her paces. Now I’m learning to drive her & hope to qualify soon 🥰 #CrewLife #Volunteering #ThisGirlCan

In the spirit of #ThrowbackThursday (and because we could all do with a bit of escapism) I've just 'unlocked' a Members' Only blog post featuring a 4 minute film I originally made for my patrons in 2020.

It's called 'Ferry Life' and I hope you enjoy it: https://lifeboatstationproject.com/2020/12/01/ferry-life/

Always proud to celebrate #InternationalWomensDay — here are the portraits I made with the @RNLI women on the Lancashire coast last year.

In a boysy world, the lifeboat lasses are vital to the smooth running of the charity that saves lives at sea!

#IWD2023 ✨⚓️✨

Love this. Thank you @MrJackLowe

#InternationalWomensDay https://twitter.com/ProjectLifeboat/status/1633499250003722243

On #InternationalWomensDay, one of my favourite paintings:

‘The Women’ by John Charlton, 1910 (oil on canvas)

It shows the start of a dramatic lifeboat rescue on New Year's Day 1861 for a local RNLI station, @CullercoatsB811.

Worth a visit to @LaingArtGallery to see it IRL!