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Monthly Archives: February 2017

The Actors’ Agency Part 9

February 24, 2017
The Actors' Agency, Vintage Photobooth
47 Comments
photoboothgiselesalvador

Enlargements of these photobooth photos are at the bottom of this post.

Here is another Parisian actor’s file card from, the 50s or 60s, for your perusal. I have not been able to find Gisele in any online files, so maybe she had no success, despite her film star style and beauty? She seems to know how to pose masterfully for the camera. Perhaps she was looking for modelling work and was already experienced in the field? The gentleman from whom I bought this series of cards was unsure of the exact extent of the agency’s remit, so it is possible she had a thriving, though anonymous career as a model?

When I purchased this card, I was unable to work out what was going on around Gisele’s ear in the second image. Now, being able to enlarge it, I can see that what might have been a small spray of tiny flowers, is actually an ingeniously designed earring. It has bead-tipped filaments that radiate, almost invisibly, out of the central cluster clipped to her lobe. A lovely effect on her dark hair, and one I have never seen before.

In the same photo, there is something of Jackie Kennedy in Gisele’s hair, makeup and clothes. Given Kennedy’s French connections, one may wonder if there is more in Jackie’s style that was fashionably Parisian, than there is in Gisele being fashionably American. Either way, she has the exemplary poise and grace of a fashion icon.

There are some other great photos in this series to come, and some previous posts you might enjoy browsing through.

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Goofy Gomer

February 23, 2017
Vintage Photobooth
28 Comments
photoboothgomerpyle

USA 1950s

The character on the right of the above photobooth photo reminds me of Jim Nabors, the actor who played Gomer Pyle in a very popular 1960s, US, situation comedy, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. I have no idea whether these two lads are, like Gomer, Marines but the palm tree dotted coastal scene in the backdrop lends a naval/marine feel to the photo that fits my premise.

So what is going on in this photo? It looks to me as though Gomer’s pal on the left, has seen some money fall out of the coin return slot and mistaken that for a malfunction. Gomer has reacted to his pal’s grimace by making a funny face of his own. Therefore they have both missed the fact that the photobooth was already beginnng its work. I hope these boys were not off on a dangerous mission. If they were, they at least had an amusing souvenir of their time at home.

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Above and below – Jim Nabors as Gomer Pyle

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Grumpy With Doll

February 20, 2017
Vintage Photobooth
28 Comments
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Germany 1930s

Here we have a seriously unamused child with, what looks to be, a brand new dolly. Her furrowed brow reminds me of an expression a disapproving, elder relative might direct towards a naughty child. Yet there is a faint trace of a smile in her pursed lips. It is as though the experience of being photographed is eliciting an automatic gesture, that she is determined not to make. The doll is looking sanguinely towards her owner’s face, hoping she is not the object of the girl’s displeasure. The way the stripes of the girl’s top and the plaid of the doll’s dress tonally harmonise, visually emphasises an emotional joining of the two actor’s in this photographic vignette.

As with any other photobooth photos, there would have been multiple photos in this strip. The others might have shown a perky, carefree, smiling child. However, this photobooth photo is the one that survived out in a world of deceased estate auctions, flea markets and online collectibles websites. A rough and tumble world, where photos as small as this one often get jammed in the bottom of a box, bent and mangled by browsers or lumped into and forgotten in a large auction lot with more desirable photos. All this leads me to think that this child’s grumpy-face was not unique to this photo at all. She had her doll. She had her day out. She was tired and wanted to go home and she DIDN’T want her photo taken in a stupid photobooth.

Strata of the Self

February 15, 2017
Vintage Photobooth
45 Comments

Earlier this month I submitted a diptych of two complete photobooth strips to the curated, self portrait blog strata of the self. I was thrilled that they were accepted. They were published in a post this afternoon, which I have reblogged, below. Please visit and explore the many and varied self portraits in multiple mediums that you will find there.

A good place to start your perusal is the About page which explains the blog’s philosophy and introduces you to Ashley Lily Scarlett the artist-curator. Ashley also has a photography, writing and animation blog, Syncopated Eyeball, which is fascinating to dip into, as well as a photo-conversation site called Between Scarlett and Guest.

© Katherine Griffiths 2017 blog: Photobooth Journal

via Katherine Griffiths: Flinders Street 30 January 2017 — strata of the self

Music, Hearts and Bluebirds

February 14, 2017
Vintage Photobooth
39 Comments

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These are the first Saint Valentine’s Day photobooth strips I have taken for this blog. ❤🌹Happy day to lovers, all! 🌹❤

These strips were taken on 30 January, 2017, at the Flinders Street photobooth. I had a hospital appointment and received good news from the surgeon. I had a photobooth appointment and received good news from a sign. I had a shopping appointment and received good news from the prices. Definitely a ❤❤❤ day.

PS The background decoration is made from pages from a 1970s romance comic called All Love, the remains of which I am reading in the centre strip.

Nuneaton – 8 December 2002- Part Three

February 12, 2017
Photobooth 45 Year Project (Archive)
7 Comments

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8 December 2002, Nuneaton, Warwickshire, UK

This photo strip was taken at Nuneaton train station at 10.35 pm. The conductor held the train for us while we impatiently, and increasingly frantically, waited for this strip to pop out. The first of three strips I made on this trip from Dublin to Leicester and more details about the people with whom I was travelling can be seen here. The second of the strips, can be seen here.

Many of the photos in this long series are unremarkable. They make up a photographic album of my adult life, which gives me a lot of pleasure, as I add each new photo to the collection. I also love the memories they bring back, when I write about them for this blog.

This strip of photos comes from my series Photobooth 45 Year Project. The complete set of posts to date, can be seen in reverse order at the link Photobooth 45 Year Project (Archive) under the Categories heading in the side bar, on the right of this post. I am still adding to this project using mostly digital booths to create the images and have many year’s worth of photos to post before I get up to date.

Nuneaton – 8 December 2002- Part Two

February 12, 2017
Photobooth 45 Year Project (Archive)
3 Comments

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8 December 2002, Nuneaton, Warwickshire, UK

This photo strip was taken at Nuneaton train station at 10.20 pm. Back in the good old days, when most UK train stations had photobooths, I was able to document a trip from Dublin to Leicester with booth images. The first of three strips I made on this trip and more details about the people with whom I was travelling can be seen here.

Many of the photos in this long series are unremarkable. They make up a photographic album of my adult life, which gives me a lot of pleasure as I add each new photo to the collection. I also love the memories they bring back, when I write about them for this blog.

This strip of photos comes from my series Photobooth 45 Year Project. The complete set of posts to date, can be seen in reverse order at the link Photobooth 45 Year Project (Archive) under the Categories heading in the side bar, on the right of this post. I am still adding to this project using mostly digital booths to create the images and have many year’s worth of photos to post before I get up to date.

Crewe – 8 December 2002- Part One

February 11, 2017
Photobooth 45 Year Project (Archive)
16 Comments

photobooth08122002

8 December 2002, Crewe, Cheshire, UK

This photo strip was taken at Crewe train station at 8.35 pm. I was on my way home from celebrating an early Christmas with my sister and her family in Dublin. I was travelling with my husband, (now ex), my cousin Krissie and her son Ryan. According to my notes on the back of this strip, Ryan was four months and seven days old.

Krissie and her partner Tony, were living in the UK at the same time I was. Her sister Rachel was also living there. It was a fantastic two years of hanging out with them at every opportunity, and the longest time I have ever lived in the same country as my cousins.

Many of the photos in this long series are unremarkable. They make up a photographic album of my adult life, which gives me a lot of pleasure as I add each new photo to the collection. I also love the memories they bring back, when I write about them for this blog.

This strip of photos comes from my series Photobooth 45 Year Project. The complete set of posts to date, can be seen in reverse order at the link Photobooth 45 Year Project (Archive) under the Categories heading in the side bar, on the right of this post. I am still adding to this project using mostly digital booths to create the images and have many year’s worth of photos to post before I get up to date.

Tongues Of Fun

February 9, 2017
Vintage Photobooth
44 Comments

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Sometimes I am lucky enough to find a large, mixed lot of photobooth photos at a reasonable price. Along with dirty, scratched, bent, taped, torn or peeling photos, there will be those in pristine condition. However sometimes the condition just doesn’t matter.

All of these photos have suffered from poor handling and all being relatively new, are not sort after by the “serious” collector. I don’t give a rat’s fart about that! I love the joy and craziness exhibited in each and every one of them. I hope you do, too.

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All the photos come from a country that is great, always has been great and doesn’t need to be “made great again”, the United States of America.

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