Photobooth (Hardcover)

by Babbette Hines (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
In 1925 the Siberian immigrant Anatol Josepho had an idea for a small curtain-enclosed booth where people could take affordable portraits anonymously and automatically. The photobooth was born. Within 20 years there were more than 30,000 in the United States alone, an explosive growth due largely to World War II, as soldiers and loved ones exchanged photos, hoping to cling to memories or moments in a world turned upside down. But by the 1960s the advent of Polaroid photography spelled the doom of the "four strip" that had become a fixture at arcades and drugstores everywhere.

The recent resurgence of photo sticker machines has recaptured the fun and intimacy of the photobooth. With no photographer to please, people are at liberty to be whoever they like: brave or sexy, cocksure or wise, without fear of censure or ridicule. Free in the certainty of their solitude, families, couples young and old, best friends, and individual after individual have presented to the camera both real and imagined selves for three-quarters of a century.

Photobooth presents over 700 such photographs from the last 75 years, images at turns spontaneous and uninhibited, often goofy, and occasionally touching. It is a fascinating portrait of everyday people and a testament to the ongoing fascination with both the process and the result.

About the Author
Babbette Hines is a collector of, and dealer in, vernacular photography. She lives in Los Angeles.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press; 1 edition (September 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568983816
• ISBN-13: 978-1568983813
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #172,125 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An amazing pictorial history and labor of love, November 23, 2002

By	D. Movahedpour "doeadear" (CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Makes a wondeful gift!, July 24, 2003

By	Susan Currie (Andover, MA United States) - See all my reviews

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!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bringing back memories, February 1, 2003

By A Customer

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.