One of my longtime dreams has been to install an old school, dime store type photobooth in my apartment. Since that isn't likely to happen soon,  I'm thrilled to have discovered Photobooth.net in the meantime. The site lists locations of old style photo booths across the US, along with pricing, photo type and samples. There is also a message board, a list of photo booth appearances in film, a gallery of photo strips, and of course, the prerequisite blog.

It's been increasingly difficult to find the classic "four poses for a dollar" machines. The photo booths I've seen recently are mostly sticker machines, passport type photo machines where you get four photos of the same pose, or booths where you get a fake "charcoal sketch" printed out on paper or a photo with a novelty background like a "Wanted" poster. It's just not the same.

Robert (robertjaz) and I used to go to a fun vintage clothing shop with a photo booth...the store owners had installed a leopard backdrop and the outside of the machine was plastered with strips featuring familiar Providence residents. We always got a kick out of examining the strips and seeing how many of our friends and acquaintances had passed through..."Look, there's Guy hiding under a hooded sweatshirt...here's Jason from the Crowns...here's the little guy from the record store down the street...there's that girl we always see at shows, there's that weird guy with the hair..." We always meant to leave behind a strip of our own, but never got a chance...sadly, the shop closed, and the photo booth went with it. 

My favorite photo booth shots:

• The one where someone waits forever for the camera, thinks it's not going to go off, leans forward to check (For what? You don't know, but everyone does it) and CLICK...giant head in the foreground!
• One friend serious-faced and immobile in all four photos, with the other friend goofing off four different ways behind their back.
• The sneaky kiss

Find and support your local photo booth today!