It's alive!!

Check out our newly launched website, dedicated to our brand-spanking new event booth.  This site includes some information about our chemical booths for those hardcore fans of vintage, but a majority of the content is directed towards our new 'digital-retro' Model 11 reproduction booth that we are carting to special events, festivals, and weddings in Savannah and the surrounding area.  If you have an event that could use a photo booth, or just want more information about our totally cool, one-of-a-kind, never-before-seen Model 11 reproduction booth, hop over to our website:

obscuraphotobooths.com

Check it!

Early Bird Special!!!  We want to thank you for your early participation following our blog, so we will extend a special 10% discount on bookings if you mention this blog post!

The Savannah Original.

I realized as I was posting a picture of our photochemical booth to photobooth.net that I haven't properly introduced you, humble reader, to our flagship Savannah photo booth.

The origin of this particular booth is shrouded in hazy, photochemical mystery.  Like most chemical booths that have resurfaced over the past years, this booth was unearthed as a neglected pile of rusted metal and electrical wires in a nondescript storage unit in some nondescript southern town.  It seems that this is a fairly common demise for the original booths.  The more you hunt for these old booths, the more you hear stories of booths trading hands and finding a secure hiding place in some neglected storage unit.  In fact, it appears that these hidden ones, the ones found buried in random storage units, are the lucky ones.  These are the booths that time forgot.  While a large majority of the chemical booths had been marched off to landfills or stripped of any valuable part and recycled for scrap metal, a few where bought as part of dubious business transactions by old-time operators who stashed them away.  Over time, and for whatever reason, these booths slowly began to recirculate, but this time to enthusiasts and collectors interested in preserving their legacy.  So in a way, they owe their existence to the fact that they were hidden away for so many years.

Anthony from Chicago, in his own mysterious way, came across this booth, bought it, and brought it to Savannah where it sat in yet another nondescript storage unit.  Rob and Anthony then proceeded to do the necessary rehabbing to get this booth operational again.  It then made a transfer once again to Obscura.
It still remains in its location at the Congress Street Social Club in Savannah, GA, proudly perched at the top of a staircase, just past the bathrooms.  This booth has been the training booth for a handful of people, myself included--our Photo Booth University.  We owe it to whoever and whatever previous owners for holding onto this booth and allowing for it to come to rest in our hands.

Like these guys.  These strips were found in the booth and it can be assumed that these two were past operators or technicians of the booth when it sat at a Six Flag Theme Park somewhere in America, probably in the early 90s.

It is these little glimpses that give insight into the history of the individual booths and another reason the photo booth remains an enduring attraction.  The mystery and richness is simply incomparable.

Here is the booth in its most recent incarnation:

Note: the Jim Beam bottle atop was a later addition by the bar and, seeing as it did no damage to the booth, was left to intice patrons of the bar who are no doubt attracted to the bottle like moths to a light.

Super 'Savannah Stopover' Photo Booth Funtime!!!

We are thrilled to be teaming up with the 2nd Annual Savannah Stopover Music Festival being held here in Savannah on March 7-10, 2012!

This event is quickly becoming well known for its diverse line-up of indie-pop, electronica, folk, and good 'ole rock and roll.  Bands from around the globe will descend once again into our fair city for a weekend of art-music revelry.  This year's Opening Night concert will be held at the Jepson Center and adjacent Telfair Square and feature bands Dinosaur Feathers, Pond, and crowd-favorite Oberhofer as well as a band poster art exhibition and, yes, you guessed it... a photo booth!!

If you are making the trek for the festival, or if you're local folk, swing by the stopover//photobooth and get your picture taken making funny faces and questionably sexual gestures.  All the strips (ok, almost all the strips... we've got to keep it civilized) from the event will be compiled and displayed online for all the world to see.  And did we mention that it is FREE!  Yep, we want all of your beautiful faces in the booth so we won't charge you a dime.  Hop in, have fun, get your freak on!  You really have no reason not to.

Later in the weekend, the booth will be moved over to the Sparetime Lounge on Congress Street for the Savannah Stopover Artist Lounge.  Band dinners and VIP parties will be held here and the booth will be hanging in there with the best.

Check out the festival website here.  Stay tuned for more information and uploads of the festival.

Ceci n'est pas une pipe...

A visitor from the future...

I have come across a number of modern photo booths while traveling that have replaced the vintage photochemical booths.  While at first approach they could almost be mistaken as identical, one look inside the booth reveals a comical overabundance of buttons, switches, and video monitors.  Modern digital technologies have replaced most antiquated and obsolete forms of media and the photo booth is no exception.  The bottom line is, it is easier and cheaper to use digital than traditional analog technology.  But in this era when techno-advocates sing the praises of time-saving advances, I can't help but wonder how much time I would waste if I tried to figure out this booth...

The Bridge of the Enterprise

This time-machine from the future was found at a Metro station in Lausanne, Switzerland and represents the shift from analog to digital technology.  Sure, it is still a photo booth by pure definition.  But in the name of making advances and saving time, the device has complicated itself out of fashion.  In fact, I can't imagine anyone other than someone requiring an ID picture actually using this contraption.  I didn't and can vouch that none of my photo booth acquaintances did either.  It could have been the 8 Swiss franc price, more than double what I'm used to paying, but I'd like to think that the pure, simple enjoyment of stepping into a photo booth can not be attained when you have this staring back at you...

Complete with retina scans!

Despite my attempted negotiations it held firm at 8 francs and I walked away empty handed and a little more appreciative of the vintage photo booth experience, regardless of how long it takes.

Une exposition extraordinaire...

Exhibition poster from the Musée de l'Elysée

I've only just returned from our quick jaunt to Lausanne, Switzerland and I can't stop thinking about what a great time it was.  The exhibition was held in the beautiful Musée de l'Elysée, an historic chateau overlooking the Lac Leman.  The show proved to be one of the, if not the most, comprehensive art exhibitions dedicated to the art and history of the photo booth.  Works by artists from as diverse a range as Andy Warhol, Richard Avedon, Cindy Sherman, the Surrealists Andre Breton, Yves Tanguy, and Max Ernst, et al, through the years right up to the present with currently working artists were presented.  The scope and depth of research was truly stunning and the presentation was excellent.  All the presenters, curators, and assistants did a great job pulling it all together.  Check out their site for more information about the show and photo booth artwork.

And it was great seeing friends from Chicago--Anthony, Andrea, and Rob at A&A Studios--set up their refurbished Model 20 for the guests of the exhibition to use.  The booth was put through its paces, working overtime and battling overheating hardware, as everyone got in on the action.  The strips will be included in a future exhibition of photo booths.  Here is our take...

Retro in profile.

I really enjoyed meeting some of the other artists and photo booth enthusiasts who made the trip.  Brian from Photobooth.net was there filming shots for a new documentary. Carole and Siobhan from Photomovette in England, Victoria from the West Coast USA, and Lauren from Chicago, all totally cool chicks down with all things photo booths.  German artist Jan Wenzel, Nakki Goranin signing her book, American Photobooth, and New York-based artists Daniel Minnick and Anita Cruz-Eberhard.  And of course, it was good times hanging out with the 312photobooth guys in Europe.

The trip was much too short, as most of the time they are, but we all left encouraged and inspired to learn more and do more.  It was really refreshing to meet and talk to so many other vintage camera, photo booth, and everything-analog junkies out there.  It seems that a vintage revival is upon us and the enthusiasm of the show and the breadth of the exhibition just proves that the photochemical booth is here to stay.  

The view wasn't too shabby either...

From the ashes, a Phoenix...

I'm totally stoked to see the launch of our sister (er, brother) company's newest booth!

Keeping it all in the family, Retro Photobooths in Austin, TX has been hard at work stripping down and rebuilding a retro Auto-Photo Model 20 chemical booth.  It wasn't long before a home was found for this rad booth at the Shangri-La Lounge on East 6th.

Next time you're in Austin, swing over to the Shangri-La and have your photo taken.  You won't regret it.  1016 E. 6th St, Austin, TX

Shangri-La booth

Found Photos...

I love finding strips left behind in the booth after a night of alcohol-fueled debauchery. It is fun to try to piece together the story lines of what was happening at that exact moment in time. And with chemical booths there is only ever one strip of proof to tell.

This one is so engaging for so many reasons. Why was this strip torn apart and left behind? One can only wonder.

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Photo booth fun

312photobooth

Derriere le rideau - L'Eshetique Photomaton

I found this stunning vintage photo booth frame at the bottom of a shoebox in a local antique shop along with a host of other vintage photographs.  It truly is timeless...



In other news, it is less than two weeks until we depart for the photo booth exhibition at the Musee de l'Elysee in Lausanne, Switzerland and I am pumped. A relative newcomer to the world of photo booths I am excited to meet all those who have been in the game for years. Not to mention the exhibition is being thrown by a museum well reputed for its photography collection. Well played, old boy!

The exhibition is a retrospect of the cultural impact and the aesthetics of the photo booth and the artists that used them. And more importantly it will be a great time for all the enthusiasts and aficionados to talk shop and mingle. Really looking forward to meeting some people who have spent years fiddling with these vintage booths.

Also, the fine gentlemen at 312photobooth up in Chicago will be setting up a predictably spectacular vintage chemical booth for the exhibition opening, and I expect not-so-healthy portions of swiss cheese, chocolate, and bier will follow. S'il vous plait et merci! Stay tuned for recap and more info.