These under-40 influencers are making their mark. Meet Erik Weber, the picture taker.
Eric Weber, Age 29
Owner West Chester Views, Photographer
If Erik Weber’s Instagram account, @westchesterviews, looks like a love letter to the borough, it’s because that’s kind of what it is. Erik fell in love with the town and has now made a career of showing off West Chester through his street photography. Featuring the door-ways, brick sidewalks, storefronts, flora and fauna and, of course, its many dogs,his account looks like a one-man promotional tour of the borough. Originally from Berks County, Weber has only been living in West Chester since 2017 and started his Instagram page in July of that year. As of this writing, the account has more than 20,000 followers
The love story began, as it often does, through friends. After college in 2012, where Erik obtained a degree in Business Marketing, some of his friends moved to West Chester, and Erik visited them frequently. He loved it enough to move here, even though it entailed an hour commute to work each day to the job he’d held for six years as an inside sales rep, sales trainer and coach at Penske Truck Leasing. Call it a long-distance romance.
His goal through his photography is to share the beauty of West Chester with as many people as possible in the hope that it will inspire more people to visit the borough and spend more time here. He also strives to create a sense of community, reposting other people’s WC photos on his account. Because what good is love if you don’t share it.
Erik has expanded into selling his photos as both prints and merchandise, including puzzles, coffee mugs, and phone cases. Not bad for a guy with no background or formal training in photography, and Erik feels grateful that he came to realize he has an eye for it.
He said he’d sat on the idea for the page for a while, and then realized that since he’s out walking his dog Miley around town every day, he might as well take that first photo.
All good journeys, after all, begin with the first step.
Read the whole story here.
