The past and future of the analogue photobooth
100 years of 4 flashes, 6 seconds apart
Hi and welcome to your bank holiday weekend newsletter…
This edition’s a guest post from Tabish Khan, and was originally published on Londonist: Urban Palette — our sister newsletter, covering London’s massive, and massively varied, visual arts scene. Subscribe to Londonist: Urban Palette for weekly reviews, interviews, gallery news, slices of London’s art history and more.
In this newsletter Tab’s in conversation with Rafael Hortala-Vallve, the founder of AUTOFOTO, a group of analogue photobooth experts — the machines that, as Vallve notes, ‘popularised and democratised photography, making it accessible to the masses’ — talking about the past and future of the coin-operated photobooth.
When was the last time you used a photobooth? Apart from a quirky feature at a wedding, it’s something we pass by on the street and may have forgotten about — I know I’m guilty of that. It may surprise you to learn they are 100 years old this year, and to mark the occasion, I spoke to Rafael Hortala-Vallve, the founder of AUTOFOTO, to find out what they have planned to mark the centenary.
AUTOFOTO is a group of analogue photobooth experts who have been rescuing and restoring original auto-photography machines for over a decade, with 14 booths now set up around London.
Tabish Khan: What drew you to photobooths and to then set up AUTOFOTO?
Rafael Hortala-Vallve: I’ve always loved photography. As a teenager, I sometimes carried a camera with me and learnt how to develop pictures in my self-built little darkroom in the bathroom of my parents' house. At the same time, I also loved motorbikes and raced enduro and supermotards in Catalonia. I was really fascinated by the mechanics of these machines… so, I guess in a way, both these interests came together in the form of the photobooth, which is essentially a mechanical darkroom.
‘The process has not changed in 100 years…’
In 2019, I wanted to set up a booth for a friend's wedding in Barcelona. This involved tracking down a machine and learning how it operated chemically and mechanically, which allowed me to build on some of my basic knowledge to make it work. It was an exciting process that involved a lot of trial and error! AUTOFOTO came a few years later, starting with one coin-operated booth, which earned enough to buy another two booths, which has led us to where we are today.
AUTOFOTO has 14 booths in London, and there’s a handy map of where you can find them.
Tabish Khan: What are you doing to celebrate the centenary of photobooths in London?
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