As many of our readers already know, from the notices it has received in The New Yorker and the New York Times, and mentions on our site and around the web, the book American Photobooth by our friend and colleague Nakki Goranin has been published, after many years of collecting, research, and writing on Nakki’s part. Our copy arrived in the mail today, as did an email about some related events in New York City, both of which we’ll discuss here.

Nakki’s book is a part history, part photo gallery, a lavishly illustrated 220+ pages of photobooth goodness, and anyone interested in the fascinating journey of photobooths from a small town in Siberia to every arcade, boardwalk, and drugstore in America and beyond, should pick up a copy.

The first eighty pages or so detail the history of the booth, from Anatol Josepho’s Photomaton through the various technological iterations and important families who contributed to the evolution of the booth, all the way up to digital booths in the present day. The remainder of the book consists of photos from Nakki’s collection, a wide variety of single photos, photostrips, hand-colored pictures, photomatic frames, photos from every era and walk of life imaginable.

In addition to the aforementioned press, the book has also been featured in The Telegraph, Vermont Public Radio, and People Magazine, among other national and international media outlets. Visit the

Pine Street Art Works blog for more on the opening for the book, held there in February.

For our readers in the New York metro area, this Saturday, May 17th, brings a chance to hear Nakki discuss her book at the Jefferson Market Branch of the New York Public Library (Ave. of the Americas at 10th St.), and a related exhibition of photobooth photos from librarian, artist, and collector Billy Parrott will be on display in the lobby, and will be available through the end of May. We encourage our readers in the area to stop by and let us know how the talk and show go.

American Photobooth will be available for purchase at the talk, and is, of course, available from Amazon and everywhere books are sold, as they say.

Our hearty congratulations to Nakki on a great achievement, and a wonderful resource for photobooth enthusiasts to enjoy for years to come. We know how long you’ve been working on the book, and we’re happy to see it out in the world for all to enjoy.

Just an update to let folks know that through some nose-to-the-grindstone work on Tim’s part, we (think we) have solved the persistent and ongoing problem of spam comments in the Photobooth.net Discussion Board. Over the years, a lot of interesting questions and helpful answers have been posted on the board, but we’ve been subject to spam overload off and on, making it difficult to find the real messages amongst the chaff and noise. 

We’ve got some beefed-up anti-robot security in place now, and we think we’ve got the problem solved. We had to delete a few thousand spam accounts, so if you had registered but not posted, your account may have been deleted, for which we apologize. Most legitimate account-holders should have been spared, so head on over to browse around, ask questions, and offer up your answers and suggestions. Thanks.

We’ve got a few updates this week, from the four (or at least three) corners of the media world. First, from mainstream TV, an advertisement that proves you can use a photobooth to sell anything. The Venus Embrace razor is the product in this case, in an ad that encourages women to use the razor and “Reveal the Goddess in You.” In one of a half-dozen scenes in the commercial, two girls go into a pseudo-photobooth and giggle under the heading “Goddess of Friendship.”

From the world of art and photography, we bring a two-page feature and brief interview with us here at Photobooth.net in the internationally-distributed magazine ISM: A Community Project. The piece, called Photobooths: The Art of the Self Portrait. It’s a nice piece, and it’s a great magazine, available at select newsstands or on ISM’s site now; we encourage you to pick up a copy.

And finally, another old photo with with what must be a great story behind it. At the risk of starting up a “Photomatic of the Week” feature, I thought I’d post this eBay gem, because it’s a great photo and a little unusual.



Not only does this Photomatic feature the great “Souvenir of the Nation’s Capital” backing, but the young soldier in the photo is sitting behind a prop with the body of what looks like the cherubic new year of 1941 painted on it, which makes for a great image. Written on the photo itself and mostly faded at this point is the question “Guess Who?”, and on the reverse is written the date “January 13, 42.” This date doesn’t make much sense with the New Year 1941 image, but it’s still a great photo.

The history of the Photomatic will be the subject of another investigation at some point in the future, but I wanted to put up some images from some of the terrific Photomatic photos I’ve come across on eBay lately. These single-shot photobooths were found in railroad stations, nightclubs, and restaurants around the country, and many featured custom-designed backings that identified where the photo was taken.


This photo was taken at San Francisco’s Bal Tabarin nightclub, and instead of the traditional blanks on the back showing “Date” and “Place Taken,” this photo purports to show a member of the Bal Tabarin “Rogues Gallery,” and asks for “Date Entered” and “Behavior” to be filled in, though neither is on this particular photo. Some brief research turns up some information about Bal Tabarin, including this particularly helpful roundup of notes about the place. Check out this terrific amateur film from 1940 in the GLBT Historical Society collection for a brief glimpse of the exterior of this “Aristocrat of San Francisco Theater-Restaurants.” More Photomatics to come…

Another quick re-cap of photobooths in the news lately…

• I can’t seem to determine if the episode ever aired, as it’s not available on ABC.com or via any other less legal means, but a February taping of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition took place at the Hughes home in Louisville, Kentucky, and a black and white dip and dunk photobooth was installed in one of the boys’ rooms. A Louisville Courier-Journal article describes the home, and an accompanying video shows the booth as an integral part of the photo-centric bedroom.

• Also, thanks to Chris F. for pointing us to the new video from Million Dollar Strong, made up of Mike O’Connell and Yoshido, a.k.a. Ken Jeong, the doctor from Knocked Up. Check out the moments from the video featuring the Bar 107 photobooth in our Music Video section, or watch the video on YouTube.

• The blog at Modern Mechanix has featured two blasts from the photobooth past recently: first, an article about Anatol Josepho from 1928 titled “Penniless Inventor Gets Million for Photo Machine,” and second, a shorter piece about the invention of the Photomatic machine: “New Automatic Machine Delivers Metal-Framed Photos.” It’s great to see these hard-to-find magazine pieces archived, at least for now, on the web.

• And finally, thanks to Tim, each of our photobooth locations now features a nifty Google map right on the location page, to make your photobooth-hunting even easier.

Photobooth photos appear by the dozens on eBay every day, and sell for anywhere from 99¢ to $50, depending on their condition, subject matter, and provenance. After watching photobooth photo sales over the last few years, we’ve jumped in, tentatively, on a few occasions, and have found a few gems.

This miniature album, which is positively tiny (the photos are 1 1/2″ by 1 7/8″), has room for ten photos, and came to me with seven photos, all of the same young soldier, inside. I’ve never seen anything like it, with its transparent color cover and plastic ring binding. I’ll be posting some other eBay finds as they come.

Thanks to all of our readers and friends who pointed us to John Strausbaugh’s article in yesterday’s New York Times. The piece, titled “Coin. Smile. Click!”, focuses on the history of photobooths in Manhattan, mostly through the lens of Nakki Goranin and her new book American Photobooth (which we’ll have a full review of when we get our hands on a copy). Mr. Strausbaugh contacted us prior to the publication of the article, and was kind enough to list Photobooth.net as one of the links in a sidebar to the main piece. 

Read the article online (and be sure to watch the accompanying video). We’ve also archived it here in case it disappears in the future.

Previously, the Times has covered photobooth artists in 2003 and the photobooth scene in Los Angeles in 2005, but I think this is the first time that a photobooth story made the front page of the Times website. 

We’re always happy to help out folks working on photobooth projects, and we’ve received a few (very different) calls lately for photobooth photos. Perhaps some of our readers can help out.

First, Cameron Woo, publisher of Bark magazine, a publication about the “history, art and culture of canines,” is looking for your photobooth photos of dogs. Readers may remember a previous issue of Bark from 2005 that featured dogs in photobooths. This time, Bark is interested in “vintage or, at least, pre-1980” photobooth images of dogs in booths, and readers who would like to submit images from their collection can contact Cameron at cameron [at] thebark [dot] com.

Second, D’arcy French-Myerson, a photobooth artist in San Francisco, is looking for complete photostrips with the following specifications:

“Use a non-digital photobooth (the old-fashioned one with 4 vertical frames). Preferably, use a color booth with a sold background. If in b/w, leave the background white. During each shot, please shake your head as loosely and vigorously as possible without injury. Simultaneously, open your mouth and sigh. Wait for the strip to develop. Please allow it to dry and send me the original:

D’arcy French-Myerson, 1230 Market St. #728, San Francisco CA 94112

You may remain anonymous, or for credit, please write your name on the the back of the strip.”

From Switzerland, where traditional photobooths have recently died off, we received a call for photobooth photos of kids age 12–16 for an English textbook. The pictured student and parents would have to approve the use of the photo, so if you’re interested in getting in touch with the publisher, email us and we’ll pass on the info.

And finally, a project of a different sort, happening this week in San Diego. Jess Jollet writes:

On Thursday March 13th, myself and three other writers here in San Diego will team up with local 60s djs, the Deadbirds, and PhotoBooth rental company PhotoBoof! to host a creative and interactive night at the local bar Whistle Stop. 

We came up with the idea to host an artistic collaborative night surrounding photobooth strips a few months ago. Since then we have been collecting photobooth strips through friends and family, and also bars where people have left their pictures behind. 

Throughout the night the writers will be reading original stories in response to photobooth pictures. The Deadbirds have created a visual that will be a moving collage of the photobooth strips we have collected. Also Gavin from PhotoBoof has generously donated his time and will be bringing his own photo booth to the bar. Everyone will be able to take free pictures. 

The five of us who have been planning the event have had so many interesting conversations and revelations about the magic of a photobooth. The mystery of what happens behind that velvet curtain and the amazing stories in each strip. 

In what could be called a trend, or just a coincidence, or simply overkill, two recent window displays in Southern California Gap stores (and, presumably, Gap stores around the country) have centered on a photobooth theme. The first, seen in February on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, announced the winners of the “Gap Casting Call,” and featured kids photographed in three poses arranged vertically with a white border — a fake photostrip, but, as I thought at the time, pretty prominent placement of the photobooth idea in an ad campaign. I should have waited a month…



Spotted last week and photographed last night at the Gap store on Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica, two window displays featuring Andy Warhol’s photobooth portraits. First, a single shot of Warhol, flanked by some striped polo shirts. And second, four shots of Judith Green (last seen at The Warhol Museum) complemented by a cute red jacket and some peach flared pants. Or whatever they’re called. This particular Gap store featured three sets of these windows, alternating down the length of the storefront, which made an eye-catching display. The photobooth as marketing tool lives on.

Some recent additions to the site, as well as photobooth news:

• Photobooth auteur Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the man behind Amélie, directed a video for ’80s French pop sensation Etienne Daho featuring animated photobooth photos, years before he and Audrey Tautou made photobooths hip again

• One of our favorite photobooth locations, Faces in Northampton, Mass., has replaced their color booth with a black and white machine.

• Grammy winner and tabloid idol Amy Winehouse was snapped carrying a framed set of photobooth photos out of her London abode as she prepared to move to the country; apparently this is big news, and you can find photos of the photostrips on this blog, and this one, and on the Daily Mail’s site.

• And finally, this bit is a little old, and we’ll have to do some more research to see what came of it, but Women’s Wear Daily reports on a vintage booth accompanying promotion for designer Stella McCartney’s products at Selfridge’s department store:

McCartney’s brand blitz at Selfridges isn’t just about commerce, however. Caricature artists will be on hand to draw customers’ portraits throughout the two weeks, and a one-man band commissioned by McCartney will play. The designer will also install a vintage photo-booth on Selfridges’ second floor, in which customers can take a shot of themselves for 1 pound, or about $2, which will be donated to the Red Cross. McCartney will make a personal appearance during London Fashion Week on Feb. 13.