10/16/2012

The Story Behind Photograph Booths

By Richard Barker


Photo booths are experiencing a massive renaissance. The first working machine appeared at the Paris World Fair in 1889 created by T.E. Enjalbert. Another paparazzo by the name of Mathew Steffens nonetheless , got a leg up on the machine's patent in May of 1889. These early machines needed manning so as to stay in working condition. It was not until July of 1890 that an automated system came into the market, invented by Conrad Bernitt, followed by an automated negative process by Carl Sasse in 1896.

In 1925 a curtain style photo booth popped up on Broadway in New York City. For a quarter you might get 8 photographs. The entire process took about 10 minutes. With NYC already being a nirvana for visitors, this was clever product placement by Anatol Josepho, the creator. Inside half a year virtually 300,000 people had made a trip to the booth. 2 years after Josepho sold his model for 1,000,000 complete with assured commission payments.

By the 1950s it was not rare to see photo booths close to the corner drugstore. This was the ideal placement for spontaneous spending. Folk would come to the store, see the machine with the stool and think 'why not? ' They would then drop in their coin and pose for four photographs, all printed on the same strip. This type of booth is known in the business as a "dunk and dry" picture booth.

The dunk and dry photograph booth gets its name from the process that happens inside the booth away from the customer's stares. When you snap the photographs, the film goes into numerous tanks housing developer. Next comes a wash, a fixing solution and toner. Eventually, the completed images pop out of the machine like wizardry. The entertainment worth for a very minor investment made them very hot. Unfortunately over time the weight of these machines for delivery purposes makes them really dear for rental. They're also a dying breed, with guesstimates that on 300 remain world wide.

Recently digital photography replaced the dunk and dry technique, also making the photo booth more compact, better to rent from websites, and inexpensive. Digital technology allows for a good variety of backgrounds and even the production of stickers or video. These technological changes support the return of photo booth machines into countless social settings both private and public.




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