Point Pleasant Beach Photographer Frames Jersey Shore

POINT PLEASANT BEACH, NJ — Point Pleasant Beach native Cate Cucci travels almost every weekend to art and crafts shows, bringing appreciative buyers the hand-framed photos of the beach she loves, never editing or altering them.

Her business is called Beachgirl Photos. Cucci's unaltered beach and nature photos are inspired by the hometown she says is overlooked among Jersey Shore towns. All she has to do, she said, is walk around Point Pleasant Beach and the photos are waiting.

"What's most important to me is that they are totally unedited and unfiltered. I do not believe in that. I think mother nature is beautiful and doesn't need to look fake. I can't make it more beautiful," she said.

"People thank me for not editing photos," Cucci said. She added, "No one ever said, 'That sky should be more purple.'"

People at art shows tell her she has a good eye. Cucci explains she is not a professional. "I've never taken a photography class. This is my hobby, not my job."

The crash inlet photo above is one of her favorites. "The sky was really that gray, and it makes the white look like it's glowing."

She said her interest in taking beach and nature photos began after Hurricane Sandy when she photographed the aftermath of the storm.

Cucci started selling her photos alone but found there was a lot more interest in framed photos. Her dad is a carpenter and made the first frames. She started doing it on her own, with help from her dad and her husband. "The saw still makes me kind of nervous," she said.

She does her own wood-burning, painting, and crafting of the frames and customizes the frames for the subjects in the photographs.

Cucci can be found at art and craft shows all over New Jersey, and she's expanding to shows in Pennsylvania this year. She will be in New Hope, Pennsylvania in September and hopes to be at a show in Pittsburgh in October. Cucci will also be showing her work at Seafood Festival in Atlantic City in June.

The subjects in Beachgirl photos are mostly from around Point Pleasant Beach, but Cucci said she also enjoys taking photos of old barns and other outdoor scenery. "I took some photos in upstate New York. I love the wood in the old barns," she explained.

She's really busy with shows, but said maybe by the end of the year she'll go on Etsy.

"They tell me I have an eye. I just want to take a picture and go home."

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