Photo strip history: how the photo booth strip began, and how to make one on your phone

Who invented the photo booth?

Automatic cameras came before the booth we know. The Getty describes the first known photography machine, created by the French inventor T. E. Enjalbert and shown at the World’s Fair in Paris in 1889. The Swiss Camera Museum in Vevey adds that in 1893 in Hamburg, Conrad Bernitt showed the Bosco Automatic, a coin-operated machine that produced tintypes. It says that photographs only began to be printed on strips of paper in 1910.

The modern photo booth is credited to Anatol Josepho, an inventor who came to the United States from Russia. His booth was called the Photomaton.

When did the first photo strip booth open?

The sources give slightly different dates:

• The Getty says the first Photomaton appeared near Times Square in New York in September 1925.
• The National Archives of Hungary, in an article on Josepho, says the first working prototype was finished in New York in July 1925. It says the first full Photomaton studio, with five improved machines, opened in September 1926 at 1659 Broadway.
• The Swiss Camera Museum says the first public automatic photo booth was installed in New York in 1926.

All three agree it began in New York in the mid 1920s.

How did the original Photomaton work?

According to the National Archives of Hungary, the Photomaton was a coin-operated booth that took eight (or six) shots in a row in twenty seconds of the person sitting in front of the camera. The photos were taken directly onto a roll of light-sensitive paper, one below the other on an uncut strip, and developing, washing and drying took eight minutes.

The archive says the key new idea, compared with earlier photo machines, was taking a series of good quality pictures instead of a single shot. The Getty says the original booth cost 25 cents and took eight photos, which took around eight to ten minutes to print.

How popular were the first booths?

Very, and quickly. The Getty says around 280,000 people used the booth in its first six months. The National Archives of Hungary says that by 1927 the company had set up 95 machines in thirty US cities, and that in 1928 Photomaton booths appeared in London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna and Budapest.

Tips for a great photo strip

These follow from the way a strip works: a fixed camera, a set number of frames and a short gap between them.

• Plan your poses. With only a few frames, decide on a sequence before you start, such as serious, silly, surprised and a group hug.
• Use the countdown. Change pose as soon as one shot is taken, so you are ready for the next.
• Keep everyone in frame. The camera does not move, so squeeze in.

Questions people ask

Where StripCut helps, and where it does not

StripCut is our Android app for making a photo booth strip on one phone. Prop the phone up or hold it out, and it counts down before each photo with a beep. You can retake any photo, pick a frame and add the date, then save the strip to Photos, share it or print it.

Free version: the classic 4 shot strip with Cream, Blush and Mint frames, the date stamp and retakes. Free strips have a small "made with StripCut" line. Pro, a one-time purchase, adds seven more frames, a 3 shot strip, a 2 x 2 grid, captions and two strips on one 4 x 6 print, and removes that line. There is no subscription.

What it is good for: a quick photo booth at a party, using the phone you already have. Strips are 2 x 6 inches at 450 dpi, so they print well at a photo kiosk.

What it will not do: it works on one phone, and photos are not uploaded anywhere, so if guests want copies you share them from the app yourself. It does not print by itself; you send the file to a printer or a print shop.

Questions or bugs: Email us.

Sources

1. The art of photo boothsGetty News · getty.edu
2. Passport photo machineSwiss Camera Museum · cameramuseum.ch
3. Anatol Josepho: from Stickyback photography to the invention of the Photomaton photoboothNational Archives of Hungary · mnl.gov.hu