By The Sea
For most of Barb Bucher’s professional life, she was an elementary school and pre-k teacher. In addition to teaching, her other true passion has always been a love of the beach and photography. Barb got started in pursuing photography professionally as she neared retirement. One of the last places she taught was at the local JCC in York, and the teachers were asked to share some of their other talents aside from teaching for a small showcase. She contributed some of her photos, and her peers were blown away. They asked her where she’s been showing her work, and Barb, full of shock at their positive response, replied, “my house!” They knew she had to show her work publicly, so the JCC offered her a temporary space there so she could get some exposure, and see what the public’s reaction would be. And that reaction was phenomenal.
This reaction is what ultimately spurred Barb into thinking what she should be doing once she retired. And in 2019, she created her professional photography business, luvtheseaphotography, which transports individuals to the sea through Barb’s beach, water, sunrise, sunset, and tropical landscape photos. Barb’s passion is the ocean, and being around any body of water. To her, it has a true calming effect. No matter where she goes in the world, whether the water is calm or wild, or even what color it is, Barb is instantaneously overwhelmed by its beauty, and falls in love every single time. Her goal in life is to live by a body of water, and be overcome by the scene day in and day out.
Barb takes photos locally at the Susquehanna River and at other places in Pennsylvania, but she also travels to take her photos. Some of the places she has traveled to for her work are Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, and the Caribbean. She loves plotting out where she is going to go, and has even taken suggestions on where to go from her clients, who are wonderful about giving her new ideas about where she should visit. She appreciates their ideas and exploring new places that she never previously thought about visiting.
Barb found out about The York Merchant through social media, and thought it was a fantastic opportunity for artists like her in the York area, because according to her, there aren’t many places that offer this type of exposure. Previously, she had been traveling to individual markets in the York/Lancaster and Maryland areas on the weekends to display her work. She greatly enjoys and appreciates being able to participate in these weekend markets, but it is, at times, labor intensive due to the nature of her booth set-up. Barb truly values having the opportunity to be showcased to the local community and beyond in a permanent, set space. She also appreciates that someone else is there to take care of the business aspects of running the booth, because it allows her the freedom to be flexible in pursuing her art and passion.
To learn more about Barb and see more of her work, visit www.luvtheseaphotography.com