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Monthly Archives: October 2011

Guatemalan Visa Panic

October 5, 2011
Photobooth 45 Year Project (Archive)
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14 January 1993

January 1993, London

Moana and I had decided to start our journey in Guatemala.  We hoped to do Spanish lessons in Antigua before heading off to explore the region.  In the months leading up to our departure there was something nagging at the back of my mind, that I chose to ignore until my last day in the UK. Moana and I had organised our tickets through an agency that also researched whether we needed any visas for our trip.  Well, they said they had looked into it.  Despite them knowing I was travelling on an Australian passport they had failed to check entry requirements for my nationality and I, stupidly, had also failed to check.

Del Holbrook had organised a lovely farewell lunch for Moana and I, to which Helen White had been invited.  After Helen arrived, something she said made me realise what my nagging concern actually was – did I really NOT need a visa? I was encouraged by all to make a phone call to check, the result of which was an abrupt departure without my lunch, a quick set of identity snaps in a photobooth at Victoria Station and an emergency interview at the Guatemalan Embassy to get the visa I should have organised weeks earlier.

A Photobooth Card to My Sister

October 4, 2011
Found Photobooth Photos
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Found Photo Greeting Card

This greeting card was found in a box of things my sister Sue, left with our parents before moving permanently to Ireland. I dashed off this card for her, when she was first living in Dublin in the early 1990s, before she had met her husband Tim, before she had decided to make Ireland her home.

Written inside the card – “Dear Sube, I’ve had a special personality profile done for you at a local singles dating agency. Lucky, you! You can choose from any of the men on the cover to be your next snog, bonk or (who can tell) husband?  I bet you are as excited as I am.  You must get in touch with Bashful Boys Agency as soon as possible as these guys will be snapped up quickly!  Be sure to quote their code number – I’d say 009 looks like your type.  Failing this why don’t you just send me some photobooth photos of you and Andy together? xxxx love from Baff.”  “Baff” was/is one of Sue’s nicknames for me. Ah, the lengths I was beginning to go to to extricate photobooth photos from a loved one – didn’t work, unfortunately.

I have no idea where these booth photos came from originally but they were obviously not part of my treasured collection, as I would not have parted with any of those.  I have a vague idea they were cut from old ID cards as they are mostly laminated. I hasten to add that this particular effort does not represent the quality of cards I was making to sell!!

Saving and Working

October 3, 2011
Photobooth 45 Year Project (Archive)
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September 1992

September 1992, London

When this was taken, again in London, I was very busy with my three part-time jobs and still very much looking forward to my Central American adventure.  I must have taken this for a reason, as is the case with most of the previous photos I have posted.  The fact that there is only one left of the strip, confirms this, though I have no recollection of the use that was made of the others.  I was not yet in the full swing of collecting and taking photos just for fun. That frenzy was yet to come as will be seen in future posts…

Cocomaton

October 2, 2011
Photobooth News
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Selected images from the photomaton advertisement campaign from Chanel, “Cocomaton”, with some behind the scenes shots. Please click the above thumbnails for a larger view of each pic.

B. A. F. – Mon, Sept. 3 1944

October 2, 2011
Vintage Photobooth
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Barbara Ann 1944

Two more photomatic photobooth photos of Barbara Ann Fremier.  The photomatic format, as far as I have been able to discover, was never available outside the USA.  If any one finds that I have misread the hand written name on the back of the picture, please let me know your interpretation and I will consider it and make changes.

Barbara Ann, Lost?

October 2, 2011
Vintage Photobooth
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Barbara Ann Fremier 1940s

One of my reasons for collecting found and vintage photos is the wonderful sense of melancholy and nostalgia they invoke.  Clothes, hair-styles, the many different photograph formats, stains and scuffs, all add to the otherworldliness of each image. Is it that this little girl, now dead or an old woman, is no longer loved and remembered? Were the photos discarded accidentally, perhaps carted away unseen at the bottom of a box of miscellaneous goods at a garage sale?  Perhaps it was just the poor condition and quality of the photos that caused their separation from the original owners?  Whatever the reality, to me they make up a beautiful wee story-book of possibilities.

An Opportunity at the Tate

October 2, 2011
Photobooth 45 Year Project (Archive)
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16 July 1992

16 July 1992 No.2

July 1992, London

Whilst in my final months at the Crafts Council in Melbourne, I was lucky enough to be involved in organising a national craft-prize exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria. I enjoyed the experience so much that I started to consider the possibility of doing a course to further my qualifications and job prospects.  Once I realised I had more time in London than previously envisaged, I applied to the Tate Gallery, now known as Tate Britain, as a volunteer in the Registrar’s Department. I worked there 2 days per week for 5 months, concurrent with my job at Liberty.  I also applied for a position and was accepted to study for a Museum Studies diploma at the University of London for the 1993 academic year.

Although working at the Tate was a great experience where I had opportunities to get my hands on some extraordinary art works, visit St James Palace, (which is not open to the public) and delve into the sketch book archives of J.M.W. Turner, my time there made me reconsider whether I would enjoy a career in that field.  Still undecided close to my departure from the UK, I thought I’d keep my place on the course until I returned from my trip to Central America, in case I had second thoughts.

The photobooth pictures above were taken at Pimlico tube station near the Tate Gallery.

A Friend and Photobooth Dogs – My Femme Fatale – Part Seven

October 2, 2011
My Femme Fatale, Photobooths in Print, Vintage Photobooth
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One day, earlier this year I received the above book in the post from the USA. In addition to collecting photobooth photos and ephemera, I also collect books about photobooth photos, of which there are a surprising number.  This one Photobooth Dogs by Cameron Woo was published in 2010.  Over the previous year or two, I had noticed in my online shopping adventures, that vintage booth photos that included a dog, were going for higher and higher prices. I fully expected to see one or two pups that I recognised in this book.

Having made myself a cup of tea, I settled down for a long peruse. There were some stunning snaps of dogs alone or with their owners, big and small, cooperative and not so cooperative but the photos that really grabbed my attention were of an unexpectedly familiar face.  There was My Femme Fatale in all her glory with a companion I hadn’t seen before; a fuzz-faced poodle. It had been some time since I had looked at my French collection, so before mentioning my discovery to anyone, I sought them out to confirm that it was indeed my lady.

And here she is forever immortalised in print – living on in the book, in my blog, in my collection and my imagination.

Loving Liberty

October 1, 2011
Photobooth 45 Year Project (Archive)
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June 1992 London

Liberty of London Identity Card

June 1992, London

Prior to heading off to Central America, I had arranged to meet Moana in England, where she had been working for the previous 2 years. I was also very keen to catch up with the Holbrooks and the many friends I had made on my last visit to London.  What was supposed to be a one month visit, turned into 9 months by mutual agreement with Moana. Rather than eat into my savings, I decided to earn some money to support myself and make the most of what that wonderful city has to offer.

I started to sell my hand made cards around town. Among the numerous stores I successfully approached was Liberty in Regent Street.  I made three ranges of cards exclusively for them.  On one visit to deliver an order, I discovered they were looking for casual staff for a sale period, so made a successful application. After working as a temp for one month, I was offered a two day per week permanent part time position.

As you can see the booth photo was taken for my id-card for my temp job.