Booth Investing

I wrote a guest post for Photobooth.net this week summarizing my trip to Europe. For anyone curious, they best visit it here.

Here's a photo that I didn't include in that post of a booth in La Citadium, a clothing store in Paris. The booth belongs to La Joyeuse de Photographie (Camille and Igor) and it never gets a break in that location. Camille told me how many strips are taken there everyday and my eyeballs almost popped out of my head.

It got me thinking about buying a booth as an investment. For as long as I can remember I've wanted one for myself, to put in a shed or in a garage and use it for art projects and to document my growing family. It's only after meeting a few photobooth savvy business people that I realized how profitable they can be in the right location and if you service it yourself. I've spoken with a friend seriously about buying one together.... but then where would we put it? Looks like I need to find a place to call home before I can take that step.

Back from Europe & At the Dartmouth Comics Arts Festival

I'm back! After putting the blog aside for three whole weeks I'm back at the keyboard. Why was I away for so long you ask?

Well... first of all I was in Europe researching photobooths until August 10th. Lots of friends have asked me "how was the trip?" And it was amazing but it was also a business trip. It was less romantic and whimsical than people seem to think, truth was that it involved a lot of time on trains and many frustrating language barrier moments. That said, I'm so happy I went, it was so great for the book and good for refreshing my outlook on life in general.

The other thing that has kept me busy was the Dartmouth Comics Arts Festival (DCAF). This was the first year of the festival and no one was quite sure what to expect. Fortunately it was a huge success both from the artists' and fans' perspectives. I got to sit behind a table and talk to people about photobooths all day, so that was pretty great. Some people even recognized me from the CBC story I helped with about photobooths that has gotten a lot play across Canada in the last two months. 

Everything that I had at my table at DCAF I'm now selling at my Etsy shop. The items include a Second Edition of the Concept Art Booklet (I revised it to include my trip to Europe), a new Photobooth Portrait of a rare booth I got to visit in the Netherlands and the last few tote bags I have. 

And lastly... I've been busy with preparing to move and tie up loose ends here in Halifax. I have less than 9 days left in this city and a whole lot of work to do and an amazing bunch of friends to visit with. I've got a few illustration jobs on the go as well, just to add an extra layer of challenge to it all.

Over the next few days I'll be posting updates from my Europe trip, so stay tuned for that.

European Photobooth Expedition Half Over

I've been in Europe now for 15 days and have 9 more to go. I've been busy following photobooth breadcrumbs in Brussels, Paris and Amsterdam. Tomorrow I head to Nimes and then later to a few spots in Italy. As I have been interviewing people I've uncovered new leads and wishing that I had more than five days in Italy, as a large part of photobooth history is routed there. Hopefully I can break through the language barrier and make the most of it, I won't have anytime to play tourist.

When I get back to Halifax, I'll do a huge write up for my blog and photobooth.net's blog... so details of my adventures will have to wait.  

I'm here in a refurbished and functional chemical booth by Fotoautomat France, which can be found at Forum des Images in Paris.