Joe Bircher was a popular figure in his hometown of Barrow-in-Furness. He was a talented boxer who worked for the council, mainly on the restoration of the Town Hall, which he documented in a series of colour photos in the 1960's. Joe was also a talented oil painter, completely self taught inspired by his surroundings. Joe painted from his photographs which he had in slide form and viewed from a hand held viewer. The fact he worked this way and never from a printed photo makes his work more remarkable.

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Joe passed away in December 1996 but left behind a wealth of local history in his wonderful paintings and photographs which are exclusive to Home Images.