Edward Noumair

"When you love something that much, it doesn't matter how hard it is, you just do it." Edward Noumair, Professional Photographer from Asbury Park. He started his own photography studio in 1939 and has been in the business for 60 years. He became insterested in photography during high school when he joined a photography club and the teacher in charge of the department encouraged and supported his interest in photography. He continued with this photography class for a couple of years and during that time he photographed many school projects as well as individuals students in the school.
During the summers he worked for Mitchell Liebsman, a man who ran a concession on the boardwalk, called The Action Photo Company. He used a DeVry Motion Picture camera, which converted to a single action photographic process. By the time he graduated from high school, he felt encouraged enough to start his own business. He found a little store on Summerfield Avenue and rented it for $25.00 a month.
In 1942, when the war broke out, he closed up my shop, covered and stored all my equipment and joined the US Marines for the next four years. There, he photographered all kinds of things. He was frequently sent up to perform mapping duties.
After the war, Edward returned to Summerfield Ave to continue his business. He soon had a very good customer base and was known for his work. In those days, he was pretty much the only photographer serving Deal, Interlaken, Neptune, Bradley and all the towns along the coast down to and including Belmar. Because his business was flurishing, he purchased a studio on Bangs Ave in Asbury. That is where he worked until he retired.
Edward shot portraits, weddings, group portraits and modeling. He served as the Professional Photographer's Association of New Jersey president in 1980. He has earned many awards for his photographs from this association.
He retired in 1999. In the past year, he has invested in his own digital nikon SLR and computer. He is also going to set up a darkroom in his garage to make prints from his old negatives of historic Asbury Park. Edward just turned 88 years old.

He is my grandfather, and the reason I became interested in photograhy.