Why photo booths are enjoying a revival

This year marks the centenary of the photo booth, which made its first appearance in 1925 on the streets of New York City. But far from slowing down as they reach their 100th birthday, they’re enjoying a revival as young people flock to use them.

Far from being just a way to get passport photographs or take fun snaps with friends, these booths have played a surprisingly significant part in social history.

‘Gorgeous’ quality

The photo booths that sprang up from the 1920s onwards were totally unlike existing commercial photography in that they “offered everyone the chance to pose without being under the watchful eye of a photographer”, said The Independent. This was especially significant for marginalised communities; “behind the drawn fabric”, same-sex couples were “free to kiss” and, unlike many US states, photo booths “never enforced segregation” or criminalised interracial relationships.

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By the 1950s and 1960s, they were a “common feature at fairs, shopping centres and train stations”, wrote the Photographers’ Gallery on Meer. Their simplicity and low cost made them a particularly democratic institution. “Anyone could step behind the curtain, alone or crammed in with friends, put their money in the slot and strike a pose.” Photo-booth snaps were “loved by everyone” from John Lennon and Yoko Ono, to John and Jacqueline Kennedy, and Andy Warhol used them for a “famous series of self-portraits”.

Despite the “gorgeous” quality of their prints, the rise of the digital camera and smartphone displaced the analogue photo booth, which has, “gradually, disappeared entirely”, said The Independent.

‘Curtained privacy’

But now, “restored by dedicated experts”, analogue photo booths are “reappearing in cities across the world” where they are “enjoying a resurgence of interest and delight with modern-day fans”, said Meer. A new exhibition at The Photographers’ Gallery in London, “Strike a pose! 100 years of the photobooth”, celebrates the cultural and aesthetic legacy of photo-booth photography.

A 1970s photo booth in New York’s Lower East Side has been “drawing long lines” of young people who “yearn for a more physical media”, said The New York Times. It’s another example of how younger generations “often feel nostalgic for a time they never experienced” and have “flocked” to various forms of “physical media that some say forces them to slow down and be present”.

“When life is sad or uncertain, we need to feel love,” said The Independent, and that’s when “we crave silliness and joy most”. The “antique charm, curtained privacy and non-judgemental gaze” of photo booths still offers the chance to “experience delight for just a few pounds”.