Fatal Exposure

Barb Bergwerf was born in Chicago and raised in the Midwest suburbs, where her lifelong passion for photography began at an early age. As a child, she eagerly waited to see her developed Kodak film from a small-town camera shop, discovering the power of storytelling through images. A defining moment came when she saw her own photographs displayed in the shop window-an experience that set her creative path in motion.After graduating from high school in Skokie, Illinois, Barb attended George Washington University in Washington, D.C., majoring in International Affairs. She began her professional career in government service, working at the Library of Congress while awaiting security clearances and later serving with an intelligence agency. Although photography took a back seat during this period, it remained a constant thread throughout her life.Family responsibilities brought Barb back to Chicago, where she returned to photography through studio work and a position with a local newspaper. She was later recruited as a staff photographer for the Chicago Tribune during the paper's expansion into suburban coverage.Never one to shy away from a creative challenge, Barb went on to open Stained Glass and More, a Tiffany stained glass studio in Northfield, Illinois. For over twenty years, she created award-winning stained glass art and taught thousands of students.Eventually, Barb and her husband, Ben, discovered Charleston, South Carolina, where the Lowcountry's beauty inspired her return to photography. Her work has included collaborations with the Center for Birds of Prey, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, the South Carolina Aquarium, and the Island Turtle Team.A lifelong desire to write, combined with advances in technology and the reflective time of the COVID era, led Barb to fiction. Her debut novel, Fatal Exposure, marks the realization of that long-held dream.