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Sunset Strips: Classic Photo Booths

OCTOBER 3, 2008

Visit an old-school photo booth before they disappear from view

Remember photo booths? Drop a few coins-or a few bucks, draw the curtain, press the button, and you’d have a few seconds to ham it up or steal a kiss. Wait for the prints to dry and get a cool keepsake.

Invented by a Siberian immigrant named Anatol Josepho, the first “Photomaton” opened at 1659 Broadway in 1926. It was an “instant” hit. Andy Warhol used photo booths in the 1960s to snap portraits of his models to incorporate into his art. Collectors like Quentin Tarantino have them in their homes, as does photographer Näkki Goranin, whose book, American Photobooth, celebrates the booths’ role in our entertainment history.

Due to the difficulty of maintaining the antique machines’ almost irreplaceable parts, the fact that the treated paper they use is no longer being produced, and the convenience of digital photography, the old-fashioned photo booth is, itself, almost history. Most public booths have vanished, but a handful can still be found around New York City.

New York
Bubby’s Restaurant
120 Hudson St
New York, NY
(212) 219-0666

Brooklyn
1 Main Street, DUMBO
Brooklyn, NY
(718) 222-0666

L.I.C.
45-58 Vernon Blvd.
Long Island City, NY
(718) 786-5400

Deno’s Wonder Wheel &Sweet Shoppe
3059 Denos Vourderis Place
Coney Island, NY