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.
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.
The Flinders Street photobooth where I have taken hundreds of photos over the last thirty years, the photobooth that I look forward to using everytime I need to be in Melbourne, the photobooth where I have had so much fun, the photobooth that looked like I’d never see again, (yeah, that booth) has been saved!
I took 23 strips to celebrate. I look forward to sharing some of them with you soon.
Above is teenage Jim Grey. Jim is from Down the Road, though not literally. That is the name of his blog where he writes about photography, cameras old and new, where he shares links to blog posts he has enjoyed in the previous week, and where he shares stories about his travels locally and around the world.
Some time ago he sent me scans of some photobooth images from a 1984 trip to Germany, and some other booth photos which he found when pulling out the first ones. It has taken me a lot longer than I intended, to share the scans with you.
So above is Jim in Germany. I think he looks like a young Clark Kent about to use the photobooth for his quick change into Superman. Yes, Superman does that! Well that is what he did in the Christopher Reeve movie of 1978. Besides, Jim just has to be Super as he likes photobooths, plus he went to the trouble of scanning his collection to send to me. Thanks Jim!
I will use Jim’s annotations to explain each strip.
Above – “Color shots of me in a photobooth in Krefeld, Germany, 20 July 1984 (I wrote the date on the back!) I had cut this strip apart, unfortunately, so I laid them on my scanner in order.”
I love the faces that Jim pulled, whilst keeping his shoulders and torso in virtually the same position throughout. These would make a great Gif! Below is Clark Kent/Superman in a booth.
The Superman strip is a mock-up that is sold by Yourprops.com. I presume the copyright belongs to them. Thanks Yourprops!!
Above – “More shots of me in another photobooth in Krefeld, Germany, also on the 20 July 1984. I held up a card and on the prints wrote “POLIZEI 503314 KREFELD” because I was trying for mug shots for a project I was doing. 503314 was the phone number of the family I was living with that summer. The last shot was of me wondering why the machine hadn’t taken the last shot yet.”
The deadly serious, authentic mugshot expressions in all these photos, are very cool. They are so serious that they have an unintentional comic edge to them.
Above – “I was with some friends (Jim Ziegler and John Lodder) in Michigan City, Indiana, in the spring of 1985. We came upon a photobooth in a shopping mall. I think it cost a dollar. I had put in a maybe fifty cents when it started making images. Someone before me must have put in the rest of the dollar. That’s why this strip is what it is.”
And this is, so far, my favourite strip for the spontaneous, chaotic nature of each image. Jim has a very clear memory of how the chaos came about. It must have been a memorable day, with or without the photos.
Above – ” Same place, same date, same people” as the previous photo strip. “This time my buddies and I were ready. I’m generally the one in the middle. John is the other bespectacled fellow. The other Jim is the one with no glasses.”
Unlike most modern, digital booths, you just never knew when the photos would be taken. Strange expressions, poor focus and lighting anomalies would abound, especially when three teenagers were let lose in one. I particularly like the third photo in this strip.
And finally the polaroid, above. ” Right next to the traditional photobooth was a booth that took single Polaroid photographs for a dollar. So Jim, John, and I went in and hammed it up one more time. I have to say, this is the sharpest Polaroid photograph I’ve ever held in my hands.” I agree with Jim, and as a booth photo, it is very rare. As he says, the photo is sharp but also has a strong colour palette after all these years. It seems that this photo was meant for Jim to keep, as he certainly is the cheesy-grinned, star of the piece, as he is in most of this collection.
Superman collecting his photos. I wish $0.75 photo booths still existed!
From Germany. 1930s.
This gentleman has a touch of Oscar Wilde’s sartorial elegance. (See photo, below). The shirt he is wearing has a light grid pattern, possibly created by stitching on the fabric. His hat, hand-knotted bow-tie, stiff white shirt-collar and the velvet detail of his coat collar, speak of a man very aware of the image he wanted to project to the world. Like the photo in a previous post of a German gentleman of this era, he understands how to pose to convey style and class. The deep shadow cast by the brim of his hat gives him an air of gravitas and mystery. I think he is a thespian, so confident and calculated is his demeanour.
This photo is superb, as I look at it now. The tones are rich and defined. They are uninterrupted by the light flares and vertical lines you can see here.
I cannot tell you how disappointed I was to see the scan. I feel I need to apologise for the poor quality. I tried the photo on different resolutions, manually adjusted tint and brightness. I tried doing it sideways and upside-down in case there was a textured nap in the paper. I cleaned the photo with a soft cloth and delicate touch. I cleaned the scanner bed. Nothing helped. I also scanned another photo from 1930s Germany at the same time, with very good results.
Usually, when scanning photos of this era the resolution is astonishing, even when enlarged to two or three times the original size. But not for this photo and I cannot work out why. Perhaps it is just another secret of this man of mystery.
Oscar Wilde by Napoleon Sarony
With tousled curls, topped with an almost completely obscured ribbon, this simple, yet elegant young woman has made a superb self-portrait. Whether deliberate or accidental, there is something of a Hollywood professional portrait to this photo.
Her gently pursed lips are sensual and painted in a soft cupid bow. Her head is tilted gently backwards and her eyes are directed toward the camera lense. She is aware of the viewer but disregards us. It is as though she is looking past the camera, past the technology that will process her photo, through the back of the booth and beyond. She is looking past us to a beautiful, far off horizon of youthful hopes and dreams. I hope those dreams were fulfilled. I hope she was loved and cherished, more than this wee souvenir that somehow escaped its rightful home.
From the USA, the photo is undated, however her hairstyle, the padded shoulders of her jacket and dark matt lipstick suggest this was probably taken in the era of the Second World War or shortly afterwards.
This photobooth image was a gift from my friend Ted. Many thanks to him! Ted is also a blogger who loves photos, photography and photobooths. Through those mutual interests we have become firm friends. He regularly surprises me with cards and photos, some of which I have already shared here. Other images from him, and of him, I will share with you next year.
Opening my present.
I got a lovely gift at the office Xmas party* this year – an Oroton handbag**, no less! Jolly japes and mischief were the order of the day. Copious amounts of hooch were consumed and a fun time was had by all.
A bit worse for wear.***
*I don’t work, so this is a bald-faced lie.
** Actually something my Grandmother once owned.
*** Not drunk. Just clumsy.
**** This is part one of a three part Christmas themed series. Hopefully. . .
Smile child, smile!
With a noise maker in hand, lovely ruffled collar and sweet clown costume, one wonders why this child looks so miserable? Probably without even knowing it, he is wearing the costume and face of Pierrot, the sad clown. He is pining for the love of Columbine. Perhaps he knows she will break his heart and leave him for the more light-hearted Harlequin?
I am guessing that the long object protruding from the back of his hat is a long stemmed feather, but you may have some other theories?
This is another in a series photobooth photos of children with toys and animals, which come from between the two World Wars. As in the previous posts, this picture is from Germany.
With badly peeling emulsion, this German photobooth photo went for a song. Deterioration such as this never bothers me, in fact I think it adds to the image’s charm. The missing emulsion is probably due to the fact that this pic was trimmed and glued into a photo album.
The modern design of the print fabric of this girl’s dress, belies the fact that this photograph was taken in the 1930s. I don’t think there is much about the photo that suggests it is over 70 years old.
It looks to me to be a celebratory photo. Her Mutti and Vatti have just bought this fluffy new teddy, spotted a photobooth and decided to mark the occasion. Our sitter is truly delighted with her new friend, isn’t she? I wonder if she chose this particular bear because he also had a big ribbon bow like the one she is sporting?
It is delightful the way our little girl is supporting her bear so tenderly. She is holding his left paw, as one might hold the hand of a child that is sat on one’s lap. Mr Bear seems a bit distracted, though. His attention is definitely focused on something outside the booth. He is probably already sick of all the human chatter and is looking for a more ursine entertainment, such as a snack. As Pooh-Bear says, “It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn’t use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like ‘What about lunch?'”.
Above is a slightly strange portrait of a young man in a photobooth. There is a lot we can guess about why the sitter chose such a lunatic expression for the photo, if we look at another from the same strip, that was once glued into a notebook.
The collage came to me the way you see it, here.
It did not take me long to find out that the man in the triangular hat is Aleister Crowley. Mr Crowley was, amongst many other things, the founder of the religion and philosophy of Thelema. He identified himself as the prophet entrusted with guiding humanity into the Æon of Horus in the early 20th century.
On Crowley’s hat is emblazoned the Eye of Providence (or the all-seeing eye of God). Most frequently the symbol shows a realistic depiction of an eye often surrounded by rays of light and usually enclosed by a triangle. It represents the eye of God watching over mankind (or divine providence).
In the case of Crowley’s organisation the eye is depicted as the ancient Egyptian Eye of Horus in the mistaken belief that the symbol dates back to Pharaonic times.
One of hundreds of different versions of the Eye of Providence
Aleister Crowley
Aspects of the counter culture of the 1960s is said to have been inspired by some of Crowley’s writings and beliefs. The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Frank Zappa were all known to have been interested in, if not influenced by him. Rightly or wrongly Crowley has been associated with Satanism and Black Magick.
And all this is leading me back to my photobooth man and his wild staring eyes. He may have been a devotee of Crowley and a Thelemite. He may have been a Satanist dabbling in the black arts. Or did he see himself as a possessor of rare vision, a man with an all-seeing eye?
He may have been looking to associate himself with the counter-culture image of rock idols of the late 1960s or early 1970s, or perhaps, he was just a very scary guy with a penchant for crayons and scissors. We will never know, but I do so love these pieces of vintage ephemera!
And just in case you’ve already forgotten that spaced out look, here is our possible acolyte once again. Sleep well tonight!
Photobooth Journal 