For The Millerton NewsMillerton native captures life in the village through her own lens
“People recognize me, they recognize my car, and as I’m getting the magazines out of my hatch they’ll come over to me and chat and ask for a copy.”
MILLERTON — For nearly a decade, Libby Valentine’s vibrant and distinctive photographs have graced the cover of Main Street Magazine, but her ties to Millerton go way back. Back to 1875, to be exact, when her great grandfather Richard L. Valentine moved to the region and started a business that has endured for 150 years and counting.
Valentine’s brother, Bruce, now carries on the family legacy as the owner of Valentine Monument Works and Sandblast — one of Millerton’s most historic businesses — but it was his early fascination with photography that first sparked Libby’s own creative journey.
She smiled as she recalled a memory from age seven. “Growing up, my brother converted a closet in our house into a dark room and I would sit on a stool and watch him develop his photographs.”
As the years went by, Valentine continued snapping photos but didn’t begin to take the art form seriously until she had children and started an annual tradition of creating elaborate holiday cards.