Photography Studio Portraits 1978 to 1980

For over two decades, the now-defunct Haupstadt Camera Repair in Wilmington, North Carolina, was the place to go for fine studio portraits. The family-run business opened in 1975, and started life as a camera repair shop.

Operated by former Chemical Lab engineer Sidney Ferry and his wife Charlotte (née Adler), the couple moved from Raleigh in 1972. The business soon expanded by supplying top-name cameras (Minolta, Kodak, and Yashica) and film, and followed that with a dedicated studio in the back room.

Despite surviving economic downturns and a foray into the VHS rental market, Haupstadt closed for good in 1996. The owners were together until Sidney’s passing in 2002 from atherosclerosis.

Sidney Ferry and his wife Charlotte photographed in 1982 at their home in Porta Bella, Boca Raton.

In the mid-1980’s, their adopted son Alan, along with his wife Elma (below), opened their own studio in downtown Charlotte, close to the Independence Shopping Center. The Olde Towne Camera Shoppe was also known for expert camera calibration, as well as maintaining a healthy stock of Instant cameras, Disc cameras, and various projectors.

Within a few years, the business expanded to the Westgate Mini Mall in Asheville and primarily sold video games and computers. The couple sold the business in 2001 and retired to Winston-Salem, where they became active in the Methodist Church.

As for Haupstadt Camera Repair, thankfully I’ve procured a bumper crop of those timeless photography studio shots. Taken between 1978 and 1980, the results are fascinating.

The majority of the women appear to be dignified matrons, librarians or staff at the accounting department. The men look as though they held executive jobs at the food processing plant or pulled the graveyard shift at the scrap yard.

I’ve done the heavy lifting by curating the best of the bunch, and sorted them so they're visually aesthetic.