Archive

Tag Archives: photobooth

Sister, Nephew, Me – 6 June 1999

June 6, 2014
Photobooth 45 Year Project (Archive)
18 Comments

photobooth06061999

6 June 1999, Chadstone, Melbourne

This is me with my six week old nephew, Calvin and my sister, Sue. It is a coincidence that this photo was taken exactly 15 years ago today. Well almost. I was actually going to publish it on the 7th of June (tomorrow) until I noticed that I was writing the post so close its anniversary. Needless to say, Calvin is now a strapping lad of fifteen who is getting up to all the kinds of mischief a 15 year old should.

This was taken at Chadstone Shopping Centre where there was once a black and white chemical photobooth, which is sorely missed. You can see an earlier photo of Sue and her son in a photobooth here.

This strip of photos is from my series Photobooth 41 Year Project which documents my life from the age of 11, through photobooth photos. You can see all the posts in the series by clicking here.

Hair – 12 May 1999

June 5, 2014
Photobooth 45 Year Project (Archive)
15 Comments

photobooth12:05:1999 1

12 May 1999, Melbourne

I took this strip of photos after a meeting at the greeting card company John Sands. I was still running my own greeting card publishing business but my health was beginning to fail. I was looking for options outside self-employment but still within the industry. I am not entirely sure what I expected of the meeting but nothing eventuated from it.

I imagine this was taken in one of the Flinders Street photobooths but as I made no record of the location, I cannot be sure.

This strip of photos is the first I have posted this year from my series Photobooth 41 Year Project. You can see all the posts that document the series by clicking here.

Lolita

June 4, 2014
Vintage Photobooth
11 Comments

To cast this pretty child as a Dolores Haze/Lotita type is very easy given her provactive pose in the final photo of this strip. That photo,  accompanied by the previous two with her teddy bear, contradict each other so sharply that I doubt she was fully aware of the impression she was creating. Still, her expression suggests that she was experimenting with her “grown-up” persona whether or not she was conscious of projecting her budding sexuality.

These three images are very unusual in the context of photobooth photos and a valued part of my collection.

photoboothLolitaGirl

The strip is undated but looks to be from the late 1960s. It originated in the USA and measures 500 x 41 mm.

 

 

Sailor Boys In A Booth

June 3, 2014
Vintage Photobooth
12 Comments

These two boys are a wonderful pair. What a lovely affectionate pose! They are cute as all get out, with their rakishly tilted caps and loose neck ties, not to mention the rose bud in one lapel. There heads just resting together and those smiles, make me love them both. The feminity of the features of the owner of the magnificent ‘tache made me think briefly that it was a woman in drag but I have dismissed that idea. Do you agree?

photobooth2sailorsGreatMo.

 

This photo comes from an album of photos that mostly were dated 1941. It measures  37 x 52 mm and came from the USA.

Movie-of-U Inside Out

June 2, 2014
Vintage Photobooth
16 Comments
Movie of you Front

Front

I bought this rare type of photobooth photo from an online seller in the USA. I have others in my collection, three of which you can see here. When it arrived it was in a parlous state of repair, being in two pieces and covered with brown paper tape to stop the photo inside from moving. None of the item’s problems were listed in the  advertisement.

After numerous emails where the seller accused me of creating the damage, I finally got an agreement to a refund but it cost me more to return it (it had to be sent registered post), than the item originally cost, leaving me out of pocket by $18. Having had to scan the photo to prove that the item had arrived in poor condition, I decided the best way to ameliorate my bad feelings about the whole affair, is to do a blog post about how the mechanics of this type of photobooth item works. I hope you find it interesting.

Movie of you Back

Damage and brown paper tape on back.

movie of you without photo

With back and therefore photo removed. You can see the marks on the “lens” that gives the illusion of movement when the item is squeezed.

Movie of you Inside

The inside of the item, showing the lens and photo. The image has three distinct images overlapping and printed together. The lens separates each image and the illusion of movement is created by squeezing the sides of the frame.

 

 

Kids and a Camera in a Photobooth

May 31, 2014
Vintage Photobooth
9 Comments

This is the type of picture that everyone who collects photobooth photos wants to own and will be willing to pay a high price to get.

photoboothKidsWithCamera

The above photo of two young chaps posing with an Imperial box camera, was highly sought after on Ebay. As most often happens, I was unable to compete with more highly cashed up collectors when it went up for auction early last year.

Judging by the black paper background, I think this photo was one from Broken Heart Gallery, the shop of Albert Tanquero who did a guest post for me last month.

It is a standard photobooth print size of 40 x 55 mm.

The International Photobooth Convention 2014

May 31, 2014
Photobooth News
6 Comments

IPC 4x6- SCREEN

The International Photobooth Convention presented by premier photobooth website  Photobooth.net, will be held at A&A Studios in Chicago soon. It runs from , June 6-8, 2014.

Organisers for this year’s convention include Tim Garrett, Brian Meacham, Anthony Vizzari and Meags Fitzgerald, whose new book I recently reviewed.

Details of the programme are below. There’s a good balance of events for photobooth artists, technicians, vintage photo collectors and for the general public. All are welcome to attend. It kills me that I won’t be there!!!

10313543_512360544049_5466400558535584097_n

Photomaton Geant – The Giant Photobooth in Paris

May 28, 2014
Photobooth News
6 Comments

This photobooth is, in essence, a giant outdoor advertisement for McDonalds “Come As You Are” promotional campaign. Photomaton is the original company name for many of the world’s photobooths and is the generic term for the booths in France and other European countries.

The interactive booth is situated at La Defense in Paris. The  “Come As You Are” campaign focuses on the values ​​of diversity, acceptance and the spirit of hospitality. The booth has a touch interface which offers the public an opportunity to take pictures that are integrated directly into the campaign visuals on a giant screen. As you can see from the video, the participant receives a large printout of their photo from the booth and can also receive the picture via email.

The video was only posted 24 hours ago on the production company’s Vimeo page, so it is possible it is still up and running. Any readers in Paris able to pop over and check it out? Let me know what you find.

Book Review – Photobooth A Biography

May 23, 2014
Photobooths in Print
8 Comments

Cover Image-Photobooth A Biography- WEB

I have been accused by many of being overly obsessed with taking photos in photobooths, having amassed hundreds of strips, taken over a period of 40 years. Some have said my dogged desire to track down and buy books about photobooths, photobooth artists and the history of photobooths is a strange compulsion. However my passion looks more like a passing fancy when one reads of the intense and personal relationship Meags Fitzgerald has with the subject in her newly released, first book Photobooth – A Biography.

In this non-fiction graphic work, Fitzgerald weaves the story of her developing and ultimately all-consuming love for all things related to photobooths, with the history of the invention of the modern chemical machine, its rise in popular use, popular culture, art, and business. The demise, and possible extinction of the once endemic machines is also documented in a staggeringly personal and emotional roller coaster of a story told through illustrations laid out in blend of bande dessinée, manga and modern graphic novel styles.

meags - Nakki Page copy

Her personal journey is expertly woven into and becomes part of the story of Siberian immigrant to the USA, Anatol Josepho’s efforts to invent an automated photography machine, his success, the spread and development of his idea and the fate of the machines. While it is a formal examination of the subject, personal observations and anecdotes written in the style of a travel journal, (for she travelled extensively to do the research for the book) make the work far more interesting than a standard history of any subject could be.

Meags (pronounced “Megs”) has produced richly detailed drawings that highlight her skill as a designer and artist. There is a theatricality in the illustrations, layout and design of the book that shows an influence from her love of improvisation theatre. Her  background in performance theatre is also seen in her photobooth stop-motion films in which she performs.

Sample Pages- Nostaglia2- WEB

She includes interviews with artists, small business owners, technicians, enthusiasts, authors and promoters of all things photobooth, who also have a dedication to using and preserving the machines that use the “dip and dunk” chemical technology. She also documents the many different types of photobooth machines that have existed and their different types of output and looks at the technical side of owning and maintaining a chemical booth.

She communicates a gentle and self-effacing humour about her obsession with photobooths yet, at times, there is a level of despair at the inevitable fate of the machines. The book concludes with a grudging acceptance that she is unable to stem the tide of change, but also with hope that the passion we in the photobooth community have for our subject, will see a different life develop for the machines in the future.

Photobooth – A Biography was published by Conundrum Press, Canada and is available in bookshops worldwide and from online booksellers.

Here are some links to more posts about Meags Fitzgerald on Photobooth Journal.

Authors Portrait- WEB

Two Old Birds In A Photobooth by Ted Strutz

May 21, 2014
Photobooth Stories
6 Comments

Last week I published two strips of photos from Ted Strutz in the USA. It was accompanied by a witty history of their creation. The success of that post lead to an idea – would he be willing to write a short story about one of the strips from my collection?

Below Ted has used his creative writing talents to illuminate the booth images, below, using two of his favourite characters Ethel and Cheryl.  They do so look like an Ethel and a Cheryl don’t they? Please enjoy his story…

IphotoboothTwoHappyLadiesSeniorPower

TWO OLD BIRDS IN A PHOTO BOOTH… A Drabble

“Cheryl!!!” (said in a whisper)

“What???” (a whisper back)

“What am I supposed to do?” (still whispering)

“What the hell are you talking about, Ethel?  Why are we whispering?” (a little louder)

“I’ve never done anything like this before.  (still whispering)

“Stop whispering, dammit. It’s a photo booth for God’s sake!!! What did you think we were doing?” (increasing louder)

“I know it’s a photo booth, Cheryl! I’ve just never done it before. Where do I look?” (normal tone)

“Here, where it says ‘Put Eyes At This Line’!!!” (very loud)

“Now what do I do?”  (normal voice)

“SMILE!”

a light flashes…

 Please click HERE to see the original post on Ted’s blog where you will find many other stories and more of the adventures of Cheryl and Ethel.

If anyone else would like to write a small piece using some of my photobooth photos (chosen by me, emailed to you) as a prompt, please get in touch!