If you’re a Photobooth.net reader, then perhaps you dream about owning your own vintage photobooth some day. Since this might not be the easiest dream to fulfill, we’re pleased to announce the arrival of the world’s smallest — and least expensive — photobooth: Pocketbooth, a vintage photobooth simulator for your iPhone or iPod touch.

Now, you may ask why we’re mentioning a digital photobooth app on our site. While we don’t typically post about digital photobooths, this app is special for two reasons: 1) we had a hand in designing it and 2) all of the elements in the app are based on actual design elements of vintage photobooths.

While the overall look of Pocketbooth was inspired by the Model 11, much of the woodgrain textures and the delivery chute are from a Model 17 booth. Great care was taken to ensure that the booth is true to the look and feel of its analog counterpart. From the woodgrain-surrounded delivery chute to the red and green lights behind the reflective glass, right down to the size, proportions, and texture of the resulting photostrip, it feels like the real deal.

You might recognize the Autophoto Model 11 photobooth from the splash screen: it is none other than the beautifully-restored booth that belongs to Peter and Ina in the Netherlands, a booth we posted about last April.

The app is available on the iTunes store and is currently discounted to 99 cents. It will be returning to its normal price in early October.

If you don’t have an iPhone or iPod Touch, or feel it somehow unfaithful to use this app, please continue to use our Photobooth Locator and find an actual photobooth near you.

Not since 2005’s fracas in Fitchburg has the photobooth shown up so prominently in the global police blotter. In what can only be described as global photobooth crime spree (it’s all relative, right?), two separate photobooth-related incidents transpired in the past few days.

The first incident took place in Northern Scotland and looks to be an inside job. Colin Smith, 35, misused his role as a photobooth technician to steal £10,000 from booths he was in charge of servicing. The money was being used to pay down his mortgage, not buy drugs, so he has that going for him.

The second incident comes to us from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. A disgruntled arcade patron became angry when a photobooth would not refund his money. He did the only sensible thing; he punched the booth and cracked the glass. The report fails to mention whether the booth ever gave any money back, but at least the perpetrator has a nice photo of his bloody knuckles.

During the 2009 International Photobooth Convention, we screened a short documentary that takes the viewer on a 3‑minute tour inside a photobooth as a photostrip is being developed. If you have ever wondered what is humming and whirring while you wait for your photo, wonder no more: we finally got around to uploading the short to YouTube. The video is in real-time, so you can see what happens at each stage of the development process. The video might have benefited from a musical score of some sort (a la Sesame Street), but opted instead for the natural sounds of the booth’s inner-dialogue.

I just returned from a brief visit to Europe where photobooths still abound in all the usual places (post offices, train and subway stations, arcades.) However, I am sad to report that 99% of the booths I encountered were digital. London was the one exception, and two of the photobooths there were the highlight of my trip.

The past year has seen the re-emergence of chemical photobooths in The Big Smoke thanks to the industrious efforts of two independent outfits: Photomovette and Photoautomat. As luck would have it, I hit the city at the perfect time to see activity from both companies. October 31st marked the closing of Photoautomat’s show at Cargo; the following evening Photomovette was hosting an opening party for their booth. I spent the morning of the 31st hanging out at Cargo, chatting with Alex and taking in the show.

Following a quick lunch of steak & ale pie and mashy peas (in case you were wondering), I met up with Carole and Siobhan, the women of Photomovette. I proved not very helpful in resolving a few of their remaining booth idiosyncrasies, but they were gracious hosts nonetheless. They were busy putting the final touches on their booth and organizing the venue for their party the following evening.

After parting company, I headed for the Tube to make my way back to my West London lodging. The subway ride was notable for two reasons: 1) I happened to sit beneath an ad adorned with a fake photostrip and 2) it occurred to me I had inadvertently slated my travel for Halloween. If you’ve never experienced it, trust me when I tell you it is slightly disorienting to experience a new place on Halloween. It certainly left me wondering if London Tube traffic was always as colorful, or if it had something to do with the holiday. See for yourself:

For those of you who missed either of the above-mentioned festivities, fret not, more opportunity awaits you. Alex’s booth remains at Cargo, and is outside in the beer garden. Feel free to stop by anytime. As for Carole and Siobhan, they are hosting another photobooth party on the 13th of December.

Henry Ford is the man who brought us assembly lines and mass production (among other innovations). As a result, he seems like the kind of person who would have been fascinated with the photobooth: a self-contained photo developing assembly line used to mass produce snapshots. It is only fitting, then, that the Henry Ford Museum just put a collection of 80 photobooth photos on Flickr.

A few of the photo groupings seem to be from the same strip or of the same subject, which is always interesting to see. Additionally, Suzanne Fischer of the Museum’s staff has posted an entry in the museum’s blog about the photobooth photos.

Mr. Ford passed away in 1947 which would mean the last 20 years of his life were lived in a world with photobooths. I wonder if there are any photostrips of him?

A brief blurb on this collection went out via the Associated Press today.

We apologize that the site has been somewhat dormant these past few weeks. Our webhost performed a migration, and once the dust settled, pretty much everything on our site was broken. Brian and I have been working hard trying to get things back in shape, and as of right now, the blog and its inner-workings seem to be alive again.

The only remaining issue we know of (please let us know if you find anything else that is broken) is the discussion board. When we created this site, we went with a discussion system that soon thereafter went dormant. Basically, we bet on the wrong horse. We are now trying to figure out if it makes sense to spend energy getting it back up and running, or if we should try to migrate the discussion history to a new, more up-to-date discussion board. Your opinions are appreciated.

We’ll keep you posted.

Sorry, you already missed the opening, but Tim Sullivan’s show (You Feel Me?) is on display at San Francisco’s Steven Wolf Fine Arts through June 20. The show includes at least one photobooth piece, in which the artist reenacts various moments from the 1955 James Dean film Rebel Without a Cause by way of facial expressions. From the press release:

Sullivan starts with a movie performance such as James Dean’s in Rebel Without a Cause, then breaks it down into its sequential emotional moments–anger, happiness, resentment, whatever. He then reenacts those emotions one at a time inside a photo booth until he has captured the entire performance in a series of self-portraits. These end up as long, elegant strips, crisp, analytical grids and thick, monotonous flip books, representing both Sullivan’s performance and the original–the presence and the absence in this work. 

If you happen to visit the show, send us a report.

I am tempted to lobby for a name change of the convention to “Photobooth Family Reunion” as I feel it captures the spirit of event much more accurately than our tongue-in-cheek use of the term “convention.” I know some disparage the family reunion with an eye-roll and the chuckle reserved for a scene from a National Lampoon Family Vacation, but my experiences with said reunions are solid gold. This year’s convention was no exception, and it had all the requisite parts: the relatives you look forward to seeing from reunions past (Nakki, Dina), the patriarch of the family keeping an eye on all the festivities (Mixup), the famous great uncle whom you’ve heard stories about for years but never met (Todd Erickson), the relatives you meet and love, but never knew you had (Carole, Siobhan, Connie), the cool relative from California that you wish lived closer (Danny), all the family members you knew existed, but didn’t know their names until now (all the artists, attendees, and Center Portion gang), and of course, the perpetual family cheerleaders, the reunion organizers who are never quite sure anyone else likes reunions as much as they do (Anthony, Brian, and me!). And need I mention, what family reunion is complete without a boatload of photographs (both archival and emerging)? Then you have the few uncles who bust out family videos for everyone to watch (the shorts program, the documentary on the booth innards) and the genealogy-obsessed aunt who organizes a sit-down Q&A with the oldest members of the family in order to hear stories soon to be lost in time (the panel discussion). Throw in a few art projects for the kids (the altered photo workshop and Russian “space bridge” project) and some general revelry, and you’ve got all the necessary ingredients. The only thing missing, in my estimation, was jello salad.

Anthony proved a more-than-capable host, navigating the grassroots art scene in Chicago to provide us with commemorative convention buttons (via Busy Beaver Button Company) and a fantastic silkscreened convention poster (from artist Shawn Stucky) as well as generously commandeering a portion of his photobooth fleet and faithful support staff (thanks Andrea, Eric, Carol, and Brad) for use at the convention. Be sure to check out Anthony’s vast array of artistic and economic involvements.

Brian already mentioned it, but it bears repeating: Sheila, Greg, and family were awesome. Thanks to them for their attentive but laid-back hospitality. If you live in and around Chicago, keep an eye on the schedule of events at the Center Portion. You won’t be disappointed.

Brian (in true form) failed to mention his amazing talk on the history of photobooths in cinema. It was an updated and expanded version of the (stellar) talk he gave in St. Louis during the 2005 Convention. When I introduced Brian, I said his talk was my favorite part of the last convention — and I wasn’t kidding. His talk is something that would be appreciated by a much larger audience — perhaps we can convince him to post some version of it online someday.

Special thanks to the folks who agreed (some of them on very short notice) to sit as part of the panel discussion I moderated: Nakki, Nick, Mixup, Brian, and Anthony. If we are able to salvage any footage from the two video cameras that ran out of batteries, we’ll post a portion of the fireside chat. I really enjoyed the different perspectives the panelists brought and only wished it could have lasted longer. We only scratched the surface.

Travel for me is always much more about the people and much less about the place — this trip to Chicago was filled with wonderful and kind people, some old and some new. I did manage to see some of my Chicago peeps (Kenner, Maureen, Nils, Joanie — thanks for coming out!) and was generously housed by cousin Doug and fed by cousin Hayes (my own mini family reunion).

There was some chatter about the next convention and there seems to be growing support for having them more regularly. When asked about the dates of the next convention, Brian and I always answer with a smile, “When are you willing to host it?” We look forward to the next gathering, whenever that might be.

Those of you who have submitted artwork for consideration should have heard back regarding our selections — if you haven’t drop us a line. We have also finalized the schedule of events. Limited editions of this silkscreened poster will be available for purchase at convention.

American Photobooth, an upcoming book by Nakki Goranin, has made its way to Amazon and is now available for pre-order. The book is being published by W.W. Norton and will be available on February 18, 2008.

Nakki has been hard at work on this book for many years, and we are very excited to see the final product. If the cover is any indication, we are in for a treat. The book deals with the history and art of the photobooth. We will keep you posted with any developments.