Photobooth

In 1925 a Siberian immigrant had the idea for a small booth where people could take affordable portraits anonymously. Within 20 years there were more than 30,000 photobooths in North America. The photobooth is fun and intimate and, 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 this solitude, families, best friends, couples, and individual after individual have presented both real and imagined selves to the camera for 75 years.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 the process and the result.Hines, Babbette is the author of 'Photobooth' with ISBN 9781568983813 and ISBN 1568983816.