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Tag Archives: selfies

Vinson – A Much Loved Guide Dog Pup – 22 September 2000

September 22, 2015
Photobooth 45 Year Project (Archive), Polaroid Photobooth
15 Comments

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22 September 2000, Melbourne, Victoria

Another of my guide dog puppies, Vinson was adored by all children, but especially by two, Giosue and Francesco. Their adoration of this dog made giving him up more difficult than usual. Telling them that he would no longer be with me when they came to visit, was heart-breaking, such was their devastation at the news.

Vinson graduated and became a fully fledged guide dog. He was sent to Japan where he had to relearn all his commands in Japanese. Unfortunately he was unable to deal with the noise and frantic pace of life in Tokyo, so he was retired. He was adopted by a family from a smaller city, where, I hope, he lived very happily.

These come from my series Photobooth 41 Year Project. You can see all the posts that document the series by clicking here.

Grant the Guide Dog Pup – 8 July 2000

September 19, 2015
Photobooth 45 Year Project (Archive), Polaroid Photobooth
4 Comments

 

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8 July 2000, Melbourne, Victoria

This is Grant and I in a rare Polaroid photobooth photo. He was one of my ‘respite care’ guide dog puppies. Being a black dog on a dark background, he isn’t too easy to see, but he was a very handsome boy.

Due to my failing health and the commitments of my business, I was no longer able to raise pups full-time. I took in trainees who had been injured, had had an operation or suffered from some other issue that meant they needed time to rest. Hopefully they would then be fit enough to return to their training.

The day after this photo was taken Grant was ‘decommissioned’ by Guide Dogs Victoria due to an unresolved issue which precluded him from completing his training. I believe he went back to his original puppy raising family.

I have no recollection of the location of this booth, not having made a note of it at the time. However, I suspect it was at Chadstone Shopping Centre in Melbourne. There were four photos in the original set.

These come from my series Photobooth 41 Year Project. You can see all the posts that document the series by clicking here.

 

Donna – From Baby to Babe

September 15, 2015
Lori and Me, Vintage Photobooth
12 Comments
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Donna in 1969

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Donna in 1972 or 1973

Ch-ch-ch-changes! This is why I love a series of photobooth photos of the same person. No other type of informal photography gives as much consistent detail of a changing face, but why oh why did this childhood collection end up on public sale?

My love to Donna and her friends. I hope they are all still with us.

To see the complete series of Donna’s growth from child to adult, please click here.

 

Lori and Me – Part 9

September 14, 2015
Lori and Me, Vintage Photobooth
5 Comments
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Undated. Possibly 1972 or 1973 “Me and Jay”

Above is the last of the photos of Donna in a photobooth with a friend. This time we have Jay, who could be another of Donna’s boyfriends. To me, they seem more like good pals. If a boyfriend, it is unusual that they are not kissing, given her love of a smooch in a booth.

Below we have the last of Donna’s friends or perhaps relatives. The way the notes on the back of each picture are written, makes it unclear whether this girl is named Sister, or if she calls Donna Sister as a nickname or is in fact her actual sister.

The writing on the back is also the only indication in all of the photos, of our blond beauty’s name. As they all came from the same album, I felt it reasonable to assume the notes were addressed to the owner of the album. The person most frequently featured, who is referred to as me in many of them, being the most obvious candidate as the owner.

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Top image. 1973 – “To one of my best friends. Stay the way you are Sister” Bottom Image. 1973 – “To Donna, A re… fr.. your friend always Sister”

Donna is photographed with many boyfriends and girlfriends over a period of 4 years from 1969 to 1973 in this series of photobooth photos. It has been a long time since I started these posts, so if you’d like to review the previous photos, please click here.

 

Lori and Me – Part 8

August 27, 2015
Lori and Me, Vintage Photobooth
5 Comments
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Donna and Lori – 1972

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Lori and Cheryl – 1972

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Lori and Cheryl – 1972

This is the penultimate installment in the Lori and Me series. As we get closer to the end, I am getting more and more confused about how to group the photos. The top four of Donna and Lori were taken on the same day as the first strip shown in Part 7. However, they are from a different booth that produced miniature, stamp sized photos. Each of the above photos is dated 1972, so I decided to group them with other miniatures of Donna’s friends.

I have enlarged the last picture of Lori and Cheryl to help you to see the detail of Cheryls extraordinary eyeshadow. Although it looks white in the pictures, I imagine that being the 1970s, it would have been a very pale green or pale blue. I think it looks very cool.

Donna is photographed with many boyfriends and girlfriends over a period of 4 years from 1969 to 1973 in this series of photobooth photos. It has been a long time since I started these posts, so if you’d like to review the previous photos, please click here.

Ted’s Girl, Gail

August 21, 2015
Vintage Photobooth
18 Comments

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Two of these photos turned up in the post as a surprise gift from my blogging friend in the USA, Ted. A few weeks later another unexpected envelope arrived but this time from one of my favourite Ebay sellers. I was thrilled to find a note and two more of the same series of photos, which had been sent directly from her, but once again were a gift from Ted.

These charming photos of this smartly dressed young lady would look great as an animated GIF. I did try, but without any success. One day if my concentration improves, I will attempt it again.

These American photos are undated. The sitter is identified as Gail.

I’m Feeling Fine

June 27, 2015
Vintage Photobooth
18 Comments

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This is another photobooth postcard from my collection but one published by Auto-Snaps which, to my knowledge, did not also own or operate any photobooths. I can find no reference to this publisher online and have never seen another postcard designed by them.

This young man’s name is Donald. An adult has filled in the address and message –

Having a nice time Auntie.

He has signed the card himself and added three kisses. (Please see the image below.)

Like the other postcards I have posted in this series of three, the message is written in pencil. Unlike the others, this one has been posted without an envelope. It was sent from the seaside resort town of Rhyl in Wales. It is dated June 1937. It is interesting that Rhyl is also the town where Cyril Astor had one of his booths in the 1940s through to the early 70s. I imagine it possible that this was one of his earliest booths. His offices were situated nearby.

To see the previous posts about photobooth postcards please click here and here.

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A Loving Thought

June 26, 2015
Vintage Photobooth
11 Comments

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Here are three more examples of my Photomaton postcards.

The young lady in the booth photo is wearing fashionable clothes of the late 1920s or early 1930s. She wrote a message on the back, which reads –

Dear Beatie and George. We are having a fine time. Hoping all is well at home. With love from Mayme

The writing is in a childish hand, so the sitter may be a lot younger than she first appeared to me. I had thought late teens but she could possibly be as young as 13 or 14. Her name is difficult to decipher. It could also be read as Mayne. Neither that, nor my first guess are familiar female monikers, so maybe neither is correct.

Below is another example of an unused card. To see some other examples of this type of card please click here.

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I Spent My Last Shilling

June 25, 2015
Vintage Photobooth
6 Comments

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I have a small collection of ephemera related to photobooths and these are some of my favourites.

Wherever a photobooth was situated, which was more often than not in seaside holiday towns, there were postcards and postcard vendors. The photomaton company came up with a way of capitalising on the booth’s popularity as a souvenir and the popularity of postcards by combining the two. They produced empty vignette cards with seaside and country themes which had gummed paper backing, into which one could insert a recently made photo from one of their booths.

The top card must have been delivered by hand or posted in an envelope. Written in pencil on the back is –

Just a little snap of me dear. Sorry my hair is so straight. But it’s not so bad is it? Love from Nancy x x

The second card is of the same design as the first. It is one of four I have, which were never used. Below is another example. They all have twee rhymes that are typical of the sentiments found on other types of greeting cards of the time. They all date from the late 1920s to early 1930s

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Oh, You Are An Odd Girl.

June 22, 2015
Vintage Photobooth
5 Comments

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My one and only photobooth photo from Belgium is a corker! This young lady has a quirky sense of humour. I love her for that. I don’t think I have any other booth photos of anyone in bandages, let alone bandages that are so badly done. I suspect they are just a prop for the photo, but could be wrong. This pic looks even more fabulous enlarged, so please click the image to see it in all its glory.

I really wonder what the rest of the strip looked like and whether there are more mad strips of this girl floating around.

This is a standard sized booth pic that is undated.