Stumbling into a photobooth with friends or family is a moment I have had hundreds of times throughout my life. I love having a spontaneous and candid snapshot to remember a day and a person by. When I was younger, the photobooths I found at malls in Florida were all digital. They provided fun borders or silly filters and backgrounds you could add to the photos. I never thought much of it – it was just the photobooth.
When I was a late teen, I found myself in Orlando, Florida. While going out to bars and a very special coffee shop, I found that I still loved jumping into a photobooth with friends. But these photobooth pictures were different! They felt more real and had a quality to them that was much different than my other photo strips. I would come to learn that these were analog photobooths, and that fact would go on to change my life.
Inspiration Comes From Living
I was 13 when Amelie was released, and I, of course, was obsessed with it. My main focus at the time was not on the supporting character (the photobooth technician) or his machine. However, I do look back and wonder if the romanticism of that film worked its way and created a background love of vintage photobooths. Even before I knew what they were!
After discovering the photobooths in Orlando, I became a bit obsessed. Side note: these machines were all running color paper and chemistry at the time, which is exceedingly rare now. I discovered there was a website dedicated to analog photobooths, and it had a locator map that was user-submitted.
Analog Photobooths, and Obsession
I went on to live in two other cities with analog booths. Both Nashville and Denver had them. I then moved to New York City. Mecca. It seemed that most of the dive bars that my friends frequented or worked at had an analog booth. I was in heaven. It didn’t take long for me to start pestering the bartenders. “Hey, do you know when the guy comes in to work on the booths? I really want to meet him!”. Answers ranged from not having a clue who he was to suggesting that he was so mysterious I’d not have much luck getting info out of him even if I did track him down. I went about life, taking photos for every big occasion and a lot of nights in between.
Joining the Analog Photobooth Community
I had, over the years, become friends with a few vintage photobooth technicians on Instagram – they gave me some insight on the inner workings of the booths and would diagnose the potential issue when photo strips came out a bit off. It was nice to learn and feel like I could tell my friend IRL about the intricacies of these machines I loved so much. Fun facts like there are 14 tanks of water baths and chemicals inside and the photo strip has to dunk into each one 6 times, it’s not actually a “film” photobooth because there is not any film inside – just a positive paper that your image goes directly onto, and most importantly that these machines are 30-60 years old and really special.
People would (and still do) ask why I love photobooths so much. I answer that analog photobooths are so unique – especially today – because they don’t have screens or countdowns, and they are capturing raw moments with a quality lens, so what we see when the photo comes out is a true representation of us in those 25 seconds. I feel like our phones have distorted how we see ourselves, quite literally, because of the distortion most phone cameras have. An analog booth is going to give you the real version of you – and I think that makes everyone look beautiful.
New York City Analog
I finally made the connection to one of the two guys who ran the many New York City photobooths in October of 2022, thanks to one of my internet technician friends (who is now a real-life friend). Max from Classic Photobooths, based in New Jersey, hired me. I have dove deep into the world of vintage photobooths since then. I now own two photobooths and help Max maintain an additional 17. We also rent vintage photobooths, so I’ve traveled a lot to bring the magic of these booths to people across the United States.
My favorite part of the job is refurbishing the parts and rebuilding the booths. Max has a collection of cabinets and parts, so a large part of our job is to rebuild these rare pieces so that if any of the booths we have open to the public have a part that fail or needs to be cleaned then we can swap it out so it stays in service and take the old part back to clean it up and fix it. I love the intricate detail of the machinery, and I’m constantly learning. The machine has electrical, chemical, and mechanical components, so a number of things can go wrong, and you have to be prepared for anything.
On top of fixing the parts, we also maintain the booths by refreshing the photochemistry inside. There is a balance with the chemicals, lighting from the flash, and the camera aperture to create a good photo.
Love and Care, Keeping Analog Photobooths Alive, and Memories Flowing
I love how much work goes into it – and that most people who use these booths may never fully understand just what goes on to produce their cute four-frame photo strip. Getting to open up the inside of a machine for a customer when I’m on a service call is always really fun – the disbelief and awe are worth it every time. I think more people are seeking out analog booths because the anticipation and not knowing is as fun as getting a good quality photo. I have a photo booth picture of my grandma from the 1940s, and it is still in such good shape – it’s so cool to know that, kept in the right conditions, people are paying $5-$8 for a photostrip that will last longer than a lifetime.
And being able to put the photostrips in a journal or on your wall or fridge is such a good way to call back good memories- walking past a favorite photo and being able to relive the moment. There is also such an amazing list of artists who have used analog photobooths to create art, and I think that you would not be able to portray the same feeling or level of quality using a digital photobooth to create pieces of work.
A Small, But Ever-growing World
There have been and are so many people across the world who are dedicating themselves to keeping analog photobooths operational. It’s really a wonderful community filled with creative, innovative, and talented people who are passionate about vintage photobooths. I feel very lucky to be involved in this small but ever-growing world.
