You may remember trips to the mall to take some exciting pictures of your friends, while making funny faces, in a cramped little photo booth next to the food court. Many strips of immediate developing film have been displayed in lockers or on mirror frames belonging to teenagers over the previous decades. The history of the photo booth is surprisingly long and still advancing.
The First Photo Booths
The first documented showcasing of the photo booth was way back in the late 1800’s. It etched the image on to a piece of metal and took about 5 minutes to complete. It was a great marvel at the World Fair in Paris where it was introduced. The next several years turned these booths to film cameras, which were less expensive to operate.
Mid Century Photo Booths
By the 1950’s the photo booth had gained popularity in most western countries including the US, the UK, and Canada. The technology was less expensive to maintain and the process was also much quicker. The ‘80’s brought forth photo booths that no longer required attendants, but could be operated by the users. This automation sparked a greater reach for the booths, allowing them to be placed in a variety of locations. Popular places for photo booths where anywhere that teenagers would frequent, places like movie theaters and shopping malls were popular spots for these machines.
Modern Photo Booths
Photo booths today are now using the latest in digital photography, and they are also connected to the internet. Custom indoor kiosks are available that can take, edit, and post photos to personal social media accounts. These are all automated and self-contained units that require very little maintenance, and they provide good clean fun to the teenagers of today. Teenagers can capture their fun and interesting times in these machines, share them on social media, and get hard copies all in about 3 minutes.
