Shaun Lowe has been shooting Peggys Cove, N.S. for years and two years ago he unknowingly snapped a shot that would become the most widely viewed photo he has ever taken.
Lowe’s photo of the iconic lighthouse ended up in Canadian pop star Carly Rae Jepsen’s hit music video ‘Call Me Maybe.’ Lowe shoots for a stock photo agency and he says he wasn’t aware his image had been used in the video.
“They're based in Calgary and the images are sold to ad agencies, marketing people, basically anyone that's looking for that certain image,” says Lowe. “They're able to search by keyword.”
Jepsen’s production team purchased the photo but none of the proceeds will be returned to Peggys Cove.
“The money should come back to Peggys Cove,” says John Campbell, who runs a restaurant at the site. “As you can see, it needs some work.”
Sherie Hodds, an employee with Nova Scotia Tourism, says the province can't do anything to fix Peggys Cove right now because it doesn't own the lighthouse.
It is trying to acquire the property from the federal government, but even if that happens there is no plan in place to protect its image. First of all, Hodds says it would be nearly impossible to enforce, but the government also wants people to continue to share this iconic image around the world.
Campbell says he would also like to see revenue for the maintenance of the lighthouse, but worries it could do more harm than good.
“If you start limiting it because of the price, then maybe people won't want to take the picture and…if you're doing an ad, if you’ve got to pay $500 for a pic of this lighthouse, maybe you'll just take a picture of another one,” he says.
“I come out here over the years and you know, the weather, the sea, the sky, it all changes,” says Lowe. “But the constant that I have in all the photos is the lighthouse and it would be a shame to lose that.”
With files from CTV Atlantic's Kayla Hounsell
