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We’ve received a copy of Lou Southgate’s new book How to photograph absolutely everything in a Photobooth, which she recently completed and has made available for purchase on Blurb. The book, subtitled “Volume #1: Elements of the Photobooth,” is an earnest and comprehensive guide to taking pictures in the photobooth, taking into account topics such as framing, focus, cropping, and exposure. 

The book primarily uses digital photobooths as its examples, but features a few photochemical strips to demonstrate different possibilities. As Southgate put it in a statement, 

The work I make responds to and is influenced by amateur photographic practices — which is to say a practice that survives through a social or seasonal desire (holidays, weddings, christmas). I discovered my obsession for Photobooths when I was looking for a cheaper alternative way into photography and I began this research by testing the Photobooths ability — both analogue and digital — to perform as an everyday camera. This developed across a period of 4–5 months and I was inspired at this point to create a book of my findings.

Southgate also has a Twitter account for the book, talking about the book, historical examples of photobooth art, and other photobooth-related topics. 

We look forward to further editions of Southgate’s work. As she says, “Elements of the Photobooth is the first in the series. The following volumes will include people, animals, gardens and landscape.”