A photo booth is a vending machine or modern kiosk which contains an automated, usually coin-operated, camera and film processor.
Traditionally photo booths contain a seat or bench designed to seat the one or two patrons being photographed. Once the payment is made, the photo booth will take a series of photographs (though some modern booths may only take a single photograph and print out a series of identical pictures). Before each photograph, there will be an indication, such as a light or a buzzer, that will signal the patron to prepare their pose. After the last photograph in the series (typically between 3 and 8) has been taken, the photo booth begins developing the film, which takes several minutes, and delivers a strip of prints.
Both black and white and color photo booths are common. Some modern photo booths use video or digital cameras instead of film cameras, and are under computer control. Some variants produce stickers, postcards, or other items with the photographs on them, rather than simply a strip of pictures. These often include an option of novelty borders around the photos.
Photo booths are typically installed indoors in places for entertainment, such as arcades and amusement parks. In some cities photo booths may also be found in train stations and other transportation hubs, as a means of obtaining a photograph needed for inclusion in a transit pass.
Origins
The patent for the first automated photography machine was filed in 1889 by Mathew Stiffens and during the same year Monsieur Enjalbert demonstrated a similar machine in Exposition Universelle in Paris, France, though these machines were not reliable enough to be self sufficient.
The modern concept of photo booth with a curtain, screen or other material covering the background and entrance originated with Anatol Josepho in 1925 with the first photo booth appearing on Broadway Street in New York City.
Photo sticker machines
Photo sticker machines or photo sticker booths are a special type of photo booth that produces photo stickers, stickers with photos on them. They became very popular in Japan in the 1990s and then spread throughout East Asia, to South Korea and Taiwan. Some have also begun appearing in the United States.
Typically, photo sticker machines produce 4x4 sheets of photo stickers, for a total of 16 photo stickers.
Sticker photos developed in the Japan and have spread to East Asia and some parts of North America. Multiple booths are usually stationed in a store with a counter for money exchange as the booths only accept certain coins and tables with scissors chained to the table for cutting and splitting the photo stickers when finished. There are many variants of sticker photo booths, with the newest ones involving air holes that create a blown hair effect, self changeable backdrops, steps so people can appear to be sitting on hot dogs or other items, and screens outside the booth where users can add on signatures, pictures, clip art and change the lighting or back drop. Sticker photos are popular among students. Group of friends and couples commonly take the photo together in various levels of intimacy and flamboyancy. Some sticker photo booths also allow other users to rate the popularity of previous sticker photos.
Photo booths are now more flexible, allowing users to choose between a variety of combinations of sizes and numbers. This facilitates the splitting between friends. There is also a variant that involves cards, but are more popular between smaller groups of people as only two cards are printed.
See also
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