As the photo booth turns 100, people share their best snapshots – including a private kiss and a chaotic proposal
100 years ago, Anatol Marco Josepho, a Russian immigrant to the US, invented the world’s first fully automated, coin-operated photo booth. When it opened its doors near Times Square in New York City, the “photomaton” – which produced pictures from a carefully orchestrated mechanical darkroom inside – was an instant hit. A reported 280,000 people lined up to use it in the first six months.
To mark 100 years, nine writers shared their favourite photo booth pictures, and we asked Guardian readers to show us their favourites and tell us what they mean to them. Here are some of their stories.
I met Johnny through friends in 1988; I wrote my name and telephone number on a parking ticket. We hadn’t been dating long when we went to a movie and there was a photo booth. We were still in that awkward dating phase, but we hopped in.
Now we’ve been together for 37 years, and married for 35. The beauty of being with someone since you were young is that you see each other, in many ways, as those same kids falling in love. I’m older, I’ve had two kids, my hair is greying, but when Johnny looks at me, a part of him still sees the 20-year-old girl he was falling in love with in the photo booth.
