Houstonian and professional photographer Barbara Perlick has been taking photos her entire life, but it wasn’t until three years ago that she decided to fully pursue her passion and start her own business, Barbara Perlick Photography. Even before the start of her professional career, Barbara was the person that always had a camera in hand. Her passion for photography really picked up when she was raising her kids and being with family as she captured everything, never wanting to miss a moment. Her kids and husband, Steve, were and are a huge part of her inspiration and her biggest supporters.
Barbara’s two kids were born and raised in West U and throughout their schooling (Fay School, Duchesne, Houston Christian, St. Francis, Episcopal), Barbara always found herself photographing their numerous events including, sports, plays, special events and more. She loved being the photographer and capturing so many images that now serve as precious memories to so many families in the West U neighborhood and beyond. To this today, Barbara will run into her kid’s former teammates, friends or their parents and they tell her how the photos she took are still in their houses or how they used them years later for their senior pages in yearbooks.
Her son grew up playing West U Little League and because it was such a wonderful part of her son’s youth, Barbara donated one of her photographs to the auction in 2018. The photo was from her limited edition Minute Maid Park series; specifically, it was a picture of the inside of a bat bag that was laying on the floor in the Astros locker room. This was a full circle moment for Barbara as she went from photographing little league to major league.
Since the start of her professional career, Barbara has captured remarkable images that are on display in businesses and homes across the nation. For example, Barbara had the unique opportunity to capture images of Minute Maid Park for a project commissioned for Houston Astros owner Jim Crane. The stunning portraits showcase still-life scenes around the ballpark, sharing a deeper story, and are now on display at Crane’s restaurant Potente.
Barbara is also passionate about giving back to her community and has been involved with many charities. She especially enjoys when photography and philanthropy cross paths. For example, Barbara created a piece for Black Tie Boxing, an annual event in Houston that benefits Hope Rising and Houston20, two nonprofit organizations advocating against sex-trafficking and dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of minors affected by sex trafficking and sexually-abusive living situations. She captured powerful images of a survivor of sex trafficking. The work she donated to the auction proved to emotionally impact the crowd as it ended up raising $35,000 with 100 percent of the proceeds benefiting Hope Rising and Houston20.
