Customer Reviews

Photobooth

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book came into my hands through a serendipitous set of circumstances. I went into the bookstore where the author, Babbette Hines, works, and saw the book prominently displayed. My friend and I began flipping through its pages, and were so fascinated by what we saw, we each bought a copy. And, with the author herself standing behind the counter, we got personally autographed editions.

I find this book fascinating for several reasons. First, Hines has combed through flea markets and piles of other people's photos to come up with pictures taken in photobooths over the past 75 years. The pictures present a candid look at the history and fashion of the times. There are beautiful people, plain people, rich and poor. There are even little notes on the back of the strips of photos. The old-fashioned photobooths with film and chemicals and four shots per strip are, sadly, on their way out. They are being replaced by modern, more cost-effective versions with digital technology and laser prints. This book preserves a rapidly eroding piece of Americana. It makes you curious about the people in the photos, and, with the spare text in the book, you can almost fashion your own story.

I am enthralled with this book as a piece of history, an album of people we may have known or wish we'd known, and a fantastic project by a very persistent and devoted writer and historian.

My friend and I recently had the pleasure of viewing the companion photography exhibit to this book at The Griffin Center in Winchester, MA. In addition, we had the good fortune of chatting with Ms. Hines about her work and her love of these vintage images. After meeting her, you really have to applaud her devotion to these "lost" snapshots. Her commitment to the Photobooth really shines through in her book. She has a sincere attachment to the images she has compiled and to the intrigue of the booth itself. The book is one I find myself picking up over and over again and just sort of imagining the subjects. Often the snapshots contained in the book exude a rather haunting feel. I guess the images leave lots of room for imagination. The book makes a wonderful gift for anyone with a creative eye. Pick up a copy or two for that hard to shop for relative, friend, boss, hostess, etc.! "Photobooth" offers up a cool glimpse into history. We need more people like Ms. Hines in this world!

I am a baby boomer, born in the late 1940s. Babbette Hines book brought back a series of memories; musical groups with close harmonies, roller skate keys on lanyards and Bonomo's Turkish Taffee. How much fun it was, back in the 50's, to be able to art direct your own 4 photos for a quarter, especially without your parents looking through the viewfiner! Rite of passages of guys and gals of all ages are recorded in this book:ones who "chose their truth".. Especially interesting are the backs of the photographs where dates, names, and editorial comments say so much in such a little space. Well designed, this is a real gem of a book. Great for gifting fellow boomers.

Babbette Hines' page of reviews will likely be crowded with "CUSTOMER IMAGES". This is a book that invites participation, and reminiscing. It will send readers, laughing, to paw through drawers for their own almost-forgotten 'strips of four' . . . Photo booths did seem to give permission to be silly and inventive, and as pompous or unpretentious as one wished to be. What a wide gamut of emotions - - what an array of poses! My favorites are different each time I look through the book - those hair do's! those hats!

The "Photomaton" invented by an Italian immigrant in 1925 was quickly bought by a NY financier, tho' there must have been some kind of precursor? (One customer image shown above is definitely from the early 1900s.) Those 'models' looked into the lens expectantly & honestly, knowing there would be no retouch job, but maybe wishing that "tinting" was more affordable. What an aura of glamour it gave.

In the 30s having pictures taken was still in the "treat" category, definitely a 'lark' - - on a par with an ice cream soda date! The selection of pictures printed on the back cover of the book do not altogether reflect the collection's breadth. Inside there are many photos of black men & women, and also much less affluent persons. They DO mirror the times. I regret they do not share space on the book's cover.

"PHOTO BOOTH" is a book for sharing - - nostalgia will spill over into laughter. Imaginations may even be dusted off. (****mcHAIKU/5-10-05)

I bought this book years ago and go back to it over and over again, amazed by the wonderful people inside. Virtually everyone I know has a couple shots of themselves in a photobooth from long ago. They were fun and magical. This book captures that and so much more. When I purchased it I immediately showed it to a friend. We spent hours going through it slowly, imaging the stories behind the faces. The magic of a photobooth is that the photographer is cut out of the equation. It's just you and a camera. Nobody saying "cheese". The starkness of that moment is wonderful. This book is simply delightful. Beautifully designed. A real gem.

This book is somewhere between art and history. I really enjoyed looking at the photographs. It makes you think. A great coffee table book.

This book is exactly what I expected. If you love pcitures of people you don't know, you'll love this book.

Curl up with a warm cup of of cappuccino by the fire and enjoy a glimpse into the private photobooth sanctuaries of another era. What a delightful book!

Affascinante retrospettiva, che stabilisce un punto di partenza (o arrivo?) di un particolare capitolo della storia della fotografia che non è mai stato adeguatamente considerato.