Something unusual keeps popping up in Germany. In hipster hangouts, dark street corners and busy avenues, photo booths quietly return.
Photoautomats or Fotoautomaten have enjoyed a renaissance due to their affordability, availability, and nostalgic charm. A four-shot strip costs just € 2, less than a U-Bahn ticket. And the growing number of booths are open day and night, providing (almost) instant gratification. The time it takes to insert your money, strike a pose, and come out with a memory in about six minutes.
Unlike digital photo booths that provide near-professional passport-friendly shots; These machines are a thing of nostalgic beauty. Photoautomats produces movie memorabilia that are a perfect memento of a great first date, a wild night out, or a day spent exploring your favorite German city.
Since the resurrection of the photo booth, the bigger question is how they ever went out of style.
Photo booth history
The idea of the photo booth dates back to US patent holders William Pope and Edward Poole in 1888. However, it wasn’t until the following year that French inventor TE Enjalbert and German photographer Mathew Steffens put the machine into operation. Various inventors continued to manipulate the machine until 1923, when the Russian immigrant Anatol Josepho created the machine most similar to the one we know today in 1923, in New York City. Viola! The photo booth was born and began to appear in the main cities of the world.
But the advent of digital photography, the waste of film, and frequent vandalism spelled the downfall of the colorful Photoautomat. The machines fell into disrepair and were eventually dismantled and disappeared from the streets and the hearts of their legions of fans. Until….
A resurgence of these machines seems to be attributed to two Berliners, Asger Doenst and Ole Kretschmann. In love with the photo booths that used to dot the city, they began buying and restoring old photo booths in 2003.
Where to find photo booths in Germany
Little by little, an army of photo booths has materialized with machines appearing in Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg, Leipzig, and Dresden and even further afield in Vienna, Paris, London, Brussels, Florence, Los Angeles, and New York City.
How to use a German photo booth
If you are concerned that the instructions are in German, fear not! There are no instructions Photoautomats are so easy to use that it is just a 1, 2, 3 process.
If you need a primer, here is a tutorial to take a perfect photo booth photo.
- After locating your booth, duck behind the half curtain and take a seat on the stool. If you are taking the photo with friends or a loved one, see if all of their smiling faces are reflected in the dark reflective glass in front of you. There may be a rectangle drawn on the glass, indicating exactly what the image will cover. If it is too high or too low, adjust the seat by turning it up or down.
- Once you are ready, enter your change. The first image begins with a flash: smile! There will be a 10 second gap between snapshots, so change your posture and watch for the flashing light to indicate the next shot. Note: Please do not put your money in until you are ready as the images will start automatically once the money is inserted.
- After taking the last photo, the strip begins to unfold. In about 5 minutes, a finished photo strip will fall into the slot.
Cheap, instant and almost always endearing, the images from a photoautomat are the ideal souvenir of your travels in Germany.
