1925
The first Photomaton
Getty says the first booth appeared near Times Square in September 1925. It cost 25 cents, took eight photos and needed around 8 to 10 minutes to print.
See the numbersThe photo booth turned 100 in 2025.
Before it, a portrait meant a studio and a photographer. Anatol Josepho's Photomaton put a camera and a darkroom in one box, with no operator: pay, sit, pose and wait for your strip.
Updated
Compare the waitTHE SHORT ANSWER
A studio and a lab
in one small box.
The Photographers' Gallery calls booths the first affordable access to photography.
No technical knowledge, and no operator.
THE STRIP
Developed while you wait
In an analogue booth the paper itself is exposed and then dunked through tanks of developer, bleach, clearing agent and toner, which is why the strip comes out wet.
Tips for the booth
INSIDE
Four flashes, one stool
Today's restored booths flash four times. You twist the stool to the right height and choose a curtain or plain background to suit your skin tone and clothes.
Compare the waitHOW LONG IS THE WAIT?
Pick a booth,
see the wait.
Choose a kind of booth to see how long its pictures took to arrive. The bar shows how long you stood outside waiting.
Figures from the Getty Museum, the International Center of Photography and The Photographers' Gallery.
TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING
Queues round
the block.
One figure from the first booth,
one from the sticker booths of the 1990s.
≈ 280,000
People using the Photomaton in its first six months
Getty says around 280,000 people used the first booth in its first six months. The Photographers' Gallery says over 7,500 New Yorkers used it in its first five days.
THE FIRST BOOTH · GETTY
45,000+
Purikura booths in Japan by summer 1997
The first purikura arrived in Japanese arcades in 1995. After slow early sales, more than 45,000 were installed across Japan by the summer of 1997.
STICKER BOOTHS · GETTY
The first photo booth in the UK opened in Selfridges, London, in 1928, according to The Photographers' Gallery.
FOUR TIPS FROM THE GALLERIES
Be ready
before you pay.
Analogue booths start as soon as the money goes in. These tips come from galleries that run restored booths.
Set the stool first
Adjust the height before paying, and sit in the middle of the stool so you stay in focus.
Keep back from the glass
Too close and you may be out of focus. If the picture is too bright, sit slightly farther back.
Pick the background
The Photographers' Gallery suggests the white background for darker skin or clothes, and the curtain for light skin, hair or pale clothes.
Handle the strip gently
It arrives wet with rinse water. The ICP says to allow 5 to 10 minutes to dry; it is not ink, so it will not smear.
FROM STICKERS TO SELFIES
Filters began
in a booth.
Purikura, short for Print Club, were sticker booths where people added decorations on a screen before printing. Getty says Japanese phones introduced front-facing cameras in 1999 to capitalise on their success, and photo apps later embraced the same style of filters.
Most booths today are digital, with filters and effects added on screen. Coin-operated analogue booths largely disappeared in the 1990s, but restorers are bringing working chemical booths back to cities including London.
Questions
Questions people ask
Who invented the photo booth?
Anatol Josepho is credited with the modern photo booth, the Photomaton, first seen in New York in 1925. Getty notes an earlier photography machine by T. E. Enjalbert was shown at the 1889 World's Fair in Paris.
Why is a photo booth strip wet?
An analogue booth contains a working darkroom. The strip passes through tanks of processing chemicals and then water rinses, so it arrives damp. It is not printed with ink.
How long does an analogue booth take?
The Photographers' Gallery says about 4 minutes to develop a strip; the International Center of Photography says 4 to 5 minutes, plus 5 to 10 minutes to dry.
When did photo booths come to the UK?
The Photographers' Gallery says the first UK booth launched in Selfridges, London, in 1928. By the 1950s and 1960s booths were common at fairs, shopping centres and stations.
What is purikura?
Short for Print Club, it is a Japanese booth that prints decorated photo stickers. Getty says the idea came from Sasaki Miho in 1994 and the first machines reached arcades in 1995.
Sources
Where the facts come from
- Getty News: The Art of Photo Booths
- The Photographers' Gallery: Strike a Pose! 100 Years of the Photobooth (press release, PDF)
- The Photographers' Gallery: Autofoto photobooth, how an analogue booth works
- International Center of Photography: Classic Model 11 Analog Photo Booth
- Massillon Museum: Photobooth Photography (PDF)
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