About

Who We Are

Cape Cod Photo, Art & Framing moved to it’s new location at 60 Route 6A in Orleans – at the new rotary and Canal Street – in January of 2016.  The location is known by many as Tree’s Place and we are located on the second floor.  We bought the business in 2008 from David Young, and we have been adding new technologies and expanding our product lines ever since.  We have a terrific staff – all friendly, knowledgeable and helpful.  We hope you will consider us for all of your creative needs.  We look forward to meeting you and helping you achieve creative excellence!

Sincerely,

Jane and Mike Donovan

Owners – Cape Cod Photo, Art & Framing

Our History

1955

Cape Cod Photos opens it doors on the corner of 6A and Main in Orleans, MA.  (We still have the original sign hanging in our shop.)  The original founders were two brothers – Harold and Bright Cooper.  Together, they offered black and white film processing and printing on premise, along with custom framing and a small art supply business.  Surprisingly, they developed a big business in post cards from images that they had taken of the local area.  (We still sell those too!) They continued in operation for 15 years until they both passed away.  They left the business to their sister, Ida Sell.

1970 – 1974

Ida knew nothing about the business she inherited, but decided to give it a go.  She sat behind the counter in a beach chair biding her time.  Ida hired John Schram and Eddie Young (and his wife Carolyn)  to help her run the store.  John was a photographer and ran the lab.  Eddie was an industrious young man who had a vision for the future of the business. On December 30, 1973, a grease fire at the Land Ho restaurant next door burned the building to the ground.   The landlord quickly rebuilt the building and the doors reopened in May of 1974.

1975 – 1982

Ida decided to sell the store shortly after the business reopened.   Eddie and John decided to buy her out, and that set the wheels in motion.  In 1977, they decided to expand the business, incorporate and change the name to Cape Cod Photo & Art Supply.  They hired a young man named David Young to help them open a branch store in Chatham.  In 1978, Eddie bought out John’s interest, and gave a share of the business to David.  They hired Rod Whitelaw to take over the Chatham store, and they invested heavily into the “one hour” photo lab business to take advantage of the 35mm film craze.

In 1980, Eddie decided to sell the business.  After much cajoling, David bought him out in 1982.  David went on to expand the store to include two more locations in Provincetown (Town Camera) and Mashpee Commons.

1983 – 2007

Business prospered throughout the 80’s and 90’s.  David got heavily into the camera hardware business – adding the Canon, Nikon and Pentax lines.  Digital Imaging arrived in the mid 90’s, and changes the business dramatically.  Slowly, David closed the branch stores as the decline in film processing made these highly seasonal business outlets less profitable.  After 30 years, David decided to put the business up for sale after he closes the final branch location in Provincetown, leaving only the flagship store on Main Street in Orleans.



We bought the store from David in January, 2008.  We decided to modernize the store with all new technologies.  Some of the enhancements included a state of the art Fuji Drylab (it’s eco friendly as well), new digital kiosks, professional medium and large format printers, a virtual custom framing operation and a computerized mat cutter.  These improvements, along with our ongoing investment in the fine art supply offering, bring us to where we are today.  We are constantly adding new art supplies, frames, cameras  and photo products to keep the store current with what today’s consumers are looking for.

2016

After 60 years in the same location, we decided to move to our new home at 60 Route 6A on the second floor at Tree’s Place.  We now have ample parking and easy access from Canal Street or the new rotary in Orleans.  We hope you’ll come see us in our new location.

Job Opportunities

Looking for Summer Employment?

If you are looking for summer employment, stop by the store to introduce yourself and fill out an application.  A background in photography and the arts is a plus!