The photo booth

From a practical necessity to a cultural phenomenon

- Words by Delwyn Mallett

IN SEPTEMBER 1925 an unusual cabin-like structure appeared in a Manhattan store at 1659 Broadway, in which for 25 cents it was possible to pose for a strip of eight sepia-toned photographs that would be automatically delivered to the sitter less than ten minutes later. In no time attendants had to be on hand to control the crowds queuing to use the machine and stretching along the street, 2000 a day by one estimate. Barely six months after its installation, 300,000 punters had deposited their quarters in the Photomaton. 'Selfie' fever had arrived. The Photomaton was the brainchild of 32-year-old Siberian émigré Anatol Josepho (originally Josephewitz) who arrived in the US in 1923 after studying photography in Germany and spending a number of years working as a photographer as far afield as Budapest and Shanghai.

The Photomaton was a hit, but the most sensational news was yet to come. A year after its launch, Josepho sold the manufacturing rights to a business consortium led by Henry Morgenthau Sr, former US ambassador to Turkey, for a million dollars. Headlines announced that Josepho was the 'smart immigrant who made a million'. With serious money invested, the Photomaton became a cultural phenomenon.

Although booths were designed for a single sitter, it didn't deter couples and even families from cramming themselves in, as well as groups of revellers. Gay couples also found the privacy of the curtained Photomaton ideal for discreetly capturing the intimacy of their then-illegal relationships.

It wasn't long before Photomaton machines reached Britain, and in February 1928