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Back in Australia

September 28, 2011
Photobooth 45 Year Project (Archive)
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January 1990

January 1990

January 1990, Melbourne

Back in Australia I was still looking for work and staying at my parent’s home in East Bentleigh.  Within a week or two of date of this picture, I had started working as Promotions Officer for the Crafts Council of Victoria, at the Meat Market Craft Centre in North Melbourne and found a place to live in East Brunswick.

Whilst at the Endell Street Place in London, I had been impressed with the quality and variety of hand made cards which we had bought from local craftspeople to sell in the shop.  Having been unable to use my designing skills in making ceramics, I decided to put my creative drive to use by starting to make my range of stationery. During my last November working there, I designed a range of hand made Christmas cards which sold very well.  The proceeds partly helped to pay for my South American travels.  Once back in Melbourne I again began to tinker with some designs which I presented for consideration to a lovely lady in Chapel Street Prahran, who had just opened her own home wares and gift shop.  With her advice on fashionable colours and presentation I developed a range of hand painted designs which I began to sell at craft and gift shops around town.

The photos above were taken at Spencer Street Station in Melbourne.  I am wearing hand painted silk earrings (clip-ons, as I have never had pierced ears) which I purchased from the Endell Street Place.  In answer to the question most often posed about this group of pics, my hair is tied back, not shorn.


Close to Going Home

September 27, 2011
Photobooth 45 Year Project (Archive)
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28 October 1989

October 1989, France

After having stayed a few nights at the holiday home of the Holbrook family, in Normandy, I was dropped at a railway station by Del Holbrook and her kids, Rosie and Richie, to make my way to Paris.  I believe I was on my way there to meet Moana for a four day exploration of the city, which marked the end of a 2 year 10 month period away from Australia. I would very soon be on a plane back home, to a new job and a new hobby that would become a part-time business.

This picture was taken at the train station at Abbeville in Picardie.  It was the first time I chose the large portrait option in a photobooth.

My Teddy, Fred

September 27, 2011
My Family in Photobooths
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81 Year Old Fred Bear

Please meet my teddy Fred, who currently lives on a bed in the spare room in Melbourne.  He is a very old English bear who (not “which” – he is definitely a person) was given to my mother for her first birthday in May 1930.

Fred was made by Farnell in the UK.  He was in fine condition when he was given to me. He had a growl that worked, soft padded paws of pale felt, with decorative stitching and a full coat of fur. He had his original eyes and snout.  By the time I had finished loving him to death he was almost bald, had no nose and badly mangled pads.  His eyes had been replaced numerous times.  He was taken for some TLC to the “doll’s hospital” in the Block Arcade in Melbourne about 10 years ago.  He is the fine specimen of bear-hood that you see above, thanks to their help.

I named Fred after Fredd Bear from a children’s TV show, the Magic Circle Club (1965-67) on Melbourne’s ATV Channel O.  Fredd (Tedd Dunn) was a silent, big, cuddly bear, who I loved dearly.  Mum took me to see the cast doing a live show at the Myer store at Chadstone.  I was so thrilled to see him but too terrified to go on stage when they asked for children from the audience to participate.  All the kids who went up received prizes.  I have remembered and regretted my shyness of that day, ever since!

Fred came with me on an outing to the Jam Factory this year.  We had gone for a morning treat but as the cafe didn’t have any pots of honey we decided to skip the Teddy Bear picnic and grab a few booth snaps instead.

It may be noted that I have written a good deal more about this loved creature than I have about my sister and brother.  This is definitely due to the fact that teddy bears do not have good computer skills and thus he is unlikely to reprimand me for the quality of the pictures or for saying anything which may embarrass him.

Introducing My Sister

September 27, 2011
My Family in Photobooths
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Sue Griffiths (Top) and Fran

Please meet my sister Sue, who currently lives in Dublin, Ireland.  This is the earliest photobooth photo that I have of my darling sister.  I have many, many in my collection, including one which is probably my all-time favourite photobooth pic.  More photos of Sue will be posted over time, if I can get away with it!

Sue, (alone in the top photo), is seen here with school friend Fran Doherty.  According to Sue, they were both around 18 years old at the time this was taken, making the date of this picture 1986. I love the graffiti on the back screen of the booth.

My Brother, Andrew.

September 27, 2011
My Family in Photobooths
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Andrew Griffiths 1977

Please meet my brother Andrew, who currently lives in Christchurch, New Zealand. The above photo was taken in Melbourne when he was in fourth form in 1977.  It is probably the only photobooth photo I have of him, but as there are still places to look for lurking remnants of my collection, there may be one or two more to discover.

This photo was on his bedroom pinboard for many a long year, so long in fact, that the felt-tip pen he had used to transform his visage, has mostly faded away.  It is a testament to the quality of these old booth photos that after 34 years the only thing that faded was the additional “artwork”. From memory he was experimenting with future images and hair styles he might (and would) eventually adopt.

Back in London

September 26, 2011
Photobooth 45 Year Project (Archive)
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London, September 1989

London, September 1989 No.2

September 1989, London

On my return to London, I was again living with the Holbrook family in West Norwood but this time my co-inhabitants were two friends made on my travels, New Zealanders, Moana and Neil. Helen and I had met them in Peru and walked the Inca trail with Moana.  We kept meeting up here and there with our last hoorah as a foursome, in Rio de Janeiro.  Not a couple, Moana and Neil were two of the funniest and most adorable people we met in South America.  As with Helen, Moana is still a good friend.  Her photos will feature in future posts.

Two photos from the same strip, taken late in 1989, in a tube station somewhere in London. With slightly more colour in my face than my usual palour, I was looking healthy and feeling very happy.

South America Preparations

September 23, 2011
Photobooth 45 Year Project (Archive)
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Visa Photo 1989

March 1989, London

This photo was taken in a photobooth in a camping goods store near Covent Garden Market in 1989, just prior to my departure from London for a 6 month trip to South America.  As the guide book had recommended having several strips of passport sized photographs ready for each border crossing and visa extensions (if needed), I sat in the booth for 5 successive strips, all very much alike but with this po-faced expression getting sourer each time.  The booth was an incredibly busy one.  I had to wait for two other sitters to get their pics taken before it was my turn.  I remember feeling quite annoyed by a pair of Australian girls who were next in the queue.  They were loudly taking the mickey out of me for taking so many photos of myself at one go.  My expressions reflected my growing irritation.

This is only one of two that I have left from the trip.  As predicted, I needed many of the photos for my travels and I traded many with other travellers.  I hope the recipients do not remember me in quite the way the I am depicted in the photos.

Rogue Gallery

September 22, 2011
Vintage Photobooth
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Rogue Gallery

I bought this page from an old photo album on Ebay recently.  The seller’s description was none too flattering to the subject, which was what attracted me to look at the listing in the first instance.  From notes on the back of the page (which has two dilapidated box brownie snaps still attached), I know this lady’s name is Esther, she had a sister or friend called Ethel and that these photos were taken around 1936, possibly in West Michigan USA.

I love Esther.  She may not be a classical beauty but she has style, poise and a serene dignity that I find very appealing.  She obviously had a thing for photobooths, another reason to admire her!

Photobooth in Comic Art

September 21, 2011
Photobooths in Print
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Mandrake the Magician

Mandrake the Magician (Detail)

This edition of the comic strip Mandrake the Magician appeared in the Australian Women’s Weekly, Wednesday 2 June 1971.  Yes, photobooths really are magic!

London 12 Months On

September 21, 2011
Photobooth 45 Year Project (Archive)
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London 1988

Travel Card 1988

January 1988, London

Having left Australia with an idea that I would be away for no more than 6 months, I was as surprised as anyone to find myself a London resident 12 months on.  I had been encouraged by other ex-pat residents at Driscoll House to look for some work to subsidise my travels.  I found an advertisement for a part-time job at a new craft gallery in Covent Garden, applied, was offered and accepted full-time work as a gallery assistant and ended up managing the retail space within 6 months.  I looked at one advertisement, made one phone call, had one interview and secured a job in one day.   I stayed for 2 years and 2 months.  The Endell Street Place was a craft shop, gallery and studio complex in Endell Street, Covent Garden.  The centre showcased the best of British craft while offering the opportunity to see the artist/craftspeople making the work on site.  I met my future travelling companion Helen White, while working there.

After my month in Elephant and Castle I moved further south to West Norwood where I was a boarder, initially with three other Australians and one Brazilian.  I developed a very close bond with my hosts the Holbrook family and remain friends with them to this day.  Since meeting them in Feburuary 1987, I have never stayed anywhere else on all my many subsequent trips to London.  They have very kindly given me numerous photobooth pictures of themselves, that I will post on this blog, at some time in the future.

The photo above was taken at a booth at South Kensington tube station.  At this time I was still only taking booth photos for a specific purpose.  This photo was used in the id, which replaced the, temporarily, mislaid one from January 1987.  This is the first of the photographs posted on this blog, to show me wearing clothes that are neither home-made, second-hand or borrowed!