Photobooth Journal

Mephisto – “The Beard of Evil”

  The names we call the Devil are numerous. He may be referred to by monikers such as Lucifer, Satan, the Prince of Darkness or Beelzebub. My personal favourite is Mephistopheles.

Mephistopheles was originally a demon that featured in German folklore and in the literary legend of Doctor Faustus, where he was acting as the devil’s henchman. In the legend, Faust makes a deal with the devilfor the…

Louie Despres Photobooth Project

North American Photographer Louie Despres (above) has a number of wonderful photo projects on his website, which you can find here. I particularly love The Believers, and Vanity I – Bathrooms, but of course my favourite just has to be Vanity II – Photobooths.

One of my earliest memories is having my picture taken in a photobooth with my brother and sister when I was probably 3 years old. I…

In my previous post, I published a gift from Brian from Equinoxio, today’s photo was a gift from Shayne of Captured and Exposed blog. As I’ve said before, the generosity of the blogging community never ceases to amaze me. Thank you to Shayne, Brian, Ted and others for their kindness in finding and sending me wee treasures.

I’m probably just getting old but Bobby here, looks way too young to be…

This two image strip of photos was purchased for me as a gift from a marché aux puces, south of Paris. Brian of Equinoxio blog, very kindly sent me this, and several other portraits, in August last year. Three sets came from photobooths, some were small studio photos and some were from a Polyfoto studio.

I chose to share these first as the reflection in this gentleman’s very groovy glasses, is so…

Babbette Hines – Photobooth

I love it when I find a familiar face in a photography book.

Sometime ago, my friend Ted sent me this gorgeous book on photobooth phototography, by Babbette Hines. I knew immediately that I recognised the face on the page below, and therefore that the gentleman concerned was lurking in my collection somewhere . . .

And here he is, below, in all his glory. He exhibits all the marvellous variety…

Montreal Plus One – 26 May 2003

26 May 2003, Montreal, Canada

I was in Montreal for a conference that my then-husband was attending. This is Donna who I met for the first time at that conference. We got on fabulously and stayed friends for a number of years until we, sadly, lost touch.

This strip of photos comes from my series Photobooth 47 Year Project. The complete set of posts to date, can be seen in reverse order at the…

In 2011 I posted a pagefrom a photo album, with a series of booth images, of a woman named Esther. I love the photos in that post! In 2019, writer and blogger Elizabeth Gauffreau loved Esther so much, that she was inspired to write about her. Her story was first published on Open: Journal of Arts and Letters in July this year. It is a beautiful and poignant exploration of what Esther’s life…

I found this single photobooth image at the bottom of a box of photos at the closing down sale of a, much loved, local antique centre. It was $1.00 but I would’ve paid much, much more for it. Vintage Australian booth photos are rarer than hen’s teeth, even more so, one that is in such good condition.

There are so many lovely details here, from the sweet beaded necklace worn by one girl, to the…

This is a 1920s/early 1930s Photomaton branded postcard of a French photobooth photo. I wish I had the original image to show you, as it would’ve been of a much finer quality.

Our fashion conscious model is shown in one of the guided poses, from a prescribed list used by the Photomaton Corporation. In the early days of photobooth photography, the machines were installed in photography studios…

I was attracted to this photo as there is a medieval princess look to this young woman’s hat. I’m very fond of portrait paintings from that era. The cone shaped hennin of the period, says royalty above all else and the demure expression on her very attractive face, gives her a regal bearing.

Closer inspection of the image suggests she is wearing a marching girl uniform of some sort, rather than…

I am tentatively dipping my toe back in the blogging pool after a long hiatus. To ease myself back in, I’ve chosen the painted backgrounds of the photos, instead of the people, as the focus.

These items are all from the USA and very easily dated to WW2 thanks to the painted battleships in the backdrops. It amuses me that the composition is virtually identical in each of the three examples, yet…

Merry Christmas, One And All!

These are not the photos I was hoping to share for Christmas this year. I took these in February as a test run. I have my elf hat, with elf ears you can just about see, a musical Christmas themed tie (which plays Jingle Bells at the push of a button) and elfish glasses, but nothing much else that suggests I’m one of Father Christmas’s trusted helpers.

If I had been well enough . . . (sigh) then…

Paper Soul – Five Haiku by Rose Perez

You’ve nothing to say In silence, you still taunt me Quiet mockery

I stare back at you A frozen smile strains your face Love’s gone; there’s no trace

Limb by limb, I rip *Raguel, I call onto thee Set my vengeance free

Arms, legs, hands, and feet My ex-lover’s confetti Scattered piece by piece

You’ve broken my heart Your paper soul I’ve now cleaved I tear you…

Here are some photos taken at the Chapel Street photobooth earlier this year. My health was more stable then than it is now. My apologies to everyone who has left a comment and not had a reply from me. Hopefully one day I will get back on top of things.

Hope you find these as amusing as I do. Happy Halloween to you all!

A Photobooth Haiku By The Poet Rummager

Ravenous

See me as I am

Glutton for your attention

Ravenous woman

  I love haiku poems and have found the blogging world to be filled with poets using this old Japanese form in exciting ways. I have two particular favourites in this field. Today I share one of them with you.

Rose Perez from Poet Rummageris an artist-collector-poet. Her poetry comes in many forms. They are frequently deeply…