Ocean City Council member John Gehrig Jr. held a keychain in his hands with both new and original photo telescopes attached to it during a working session last week.
“I haven’t had a new one in a long time,” Gehrig said.
City Manager Terry McGean mused that some Ocean City visitors will have keychains with 10 telescopes commemorating generations of family trips.
So when the owners of Telescope Pictures, the sole bearer of the 75-year-old Ocean City tradition, asked the council for help staying afloat, the council had no hesitation in lending a hand.
“There are traditions that are important to Ocean City, but some of our traditions have been lost over the years because times have changed,” Mayor Richard Meehan said at the meeting. “This is one worth holding onto.”
The council unanimously voted to reduce the annual franchise fee for Telescope Pictures during a working session on July 15.
Telescope Pictures, a beach photography business, is a unique tradition where photographers approach beachgoers in Ocean City and take a photo to put inside a “telescope” as a souvenir.
Jon Cameron, who owns Telescope Pictures with his wife, Samantha, said the proliferation of cellphones and heightened labor costs have contributed to the company’s recent struggles.
“Everyone’s a photographer, and we have to prove to the customers through our actions, through our words, through our friendly manner [and] all the things that we do that what we do is better than what they can do,” Jon Cameron said during the meeting.
The company has since evolved, now offering framed photos and ornaments, for example, McGean explained.
When Jon Cameron worked as an employee selling telescope photos on the beach 25 years ago, he said he only got paid on commission. Now, with minimum wage requirements, employees are paid even without making a sale, and he said it’s “extremely challenging because of motivating young adults.”
He also pointed to increased minimum wage in Maryland as a factor in increased labor costs. The state’s minimum wage has been steadily increasing over the years, reaching $15 per hour in 2024.
McGean told The Baltimore Sun the beach photography business was once competitive, causing the city to divide the beach for different operators. The last time the city put out a bid, the Camerons were the only bidder on the south end of Ocean City, with no bids on the north end, McGean said.
The Camerons signed a four-year contract with the city in December 2018 at $152,000 per year. Then, in the following summer, they expressed interest in the other open bid, and the council accepted their bid of $76,250 per year for four years in September 2019, according to meeting documents.
With popularity dropping, the Camerons approached the council last week for short- and long-term assistance. One of the requests was eliminating the annual fee from the second franchise bid, reducing their total annual fee by $76,250.
“The fact they are willing to maintain and honor the initial bid price they had, we believe it is acceptable,” McGean said to the council during the meeting.
The council has supported Telescope Pictures in the past, altering the payment structure and eliminating a 10% increase in September 2023, as well as granting a payment extension last month, according to meeting documents.
All council members expressed interest in supporting the historic industry. Mayor Meehan noted how he has never received a complaint about the beach photography franchise, even though he’s received complaints for “just about everything.”
“They have always been good ambassadors for Ocean City on the beach,” Meehan said during the meeting.
The Camerons also asked for a three-year contract extension into November 2030 and a collaboration with the city’s tourism department. This collaboration could include the town’s logo on the telescopes or sending photographers to town events, McGean said.
McGean said there is no hesitation for the contract extension from the City Council, but it requires a change in ordinance, which can only happen at a formal meeting. The first reading of the ordinance change will be Aug. 18.
Gehrig expressed concern over the lack of details in the tourism collaboration and suggested pushing it to a later date.
The council elected to vote only on the annual fee reduction, which passed with a 6-0 vote.
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