The 2014 International Photobooth Convention Announced!

Poster design by Meags Fitzgerald

I'm so insanely delighted to be one of the organizers for the next International Photobooth Convention! The other organizers are the gentlemen behind Photobooth.net, Tim Garrett and Brian Meacham, and the president of A&A Studios in Chicago, Anthony Vizzari. These fellas have been integral to the photobooth community and I'm happy to be amongst them.

We haven't announced the programming yet, but it's shaping up to be an incredible event. Aside from getting to socialize with other photobooth fans/nerds/experts from around the world, there will be forums for technicians and artists, workshops, weekend long collaborative projects, film screenings, a book launch for Photobooth: A Biography, and some very special and extremely rare vintage photobooths!

The event is open to the public. You can RSVP on the event page of facebook:

And follow the convention news at Photobooth.net.

Yippee!

Field Trip to Auto-Photo!

On Thursday this past week I took a day off from working on my book and made a field trip to Auto-Photo's warehouse! I've visited twice before and I'm continually blown away by how friendly and helpful the staff are. And by chance, Brian Meacham of Photobooth.net was visiting Auto-Photo that day too! I hadn't seen him since the 2012 Int. Photobooth Convention. It felt like a little reunion.

Auto-Photo had a colour booth set up for me to use all day. The purpose of this trip was to shoot my next stop motion animation. This one will be short (about 35 seconds) and I'll share it online (unlike others I've made which can't be shared online because of terms set by film festivals.) The photo taking couldn't have gone better, we got all the shots I need and I think it will look really great once it's animated. I was assisted all day by my selfless friend Solomon.

The field trip was a wonderful break from my book work and reminded me of why I love the photobooth community so much. Editing and animating the little film will take many hours so I probably won't finish the piece until March, when my schedule opens up a bit.

Setting up the props- photos by my friend and assistant for the day, Solomon Krueger.

Inside the booth, outside the booth and my strips drying on my storyboard.

Montreal's Expozine

This past weekend was Expozine, a fair for indie and small press books, zines and prints. It was my first time at the event and I had fantastic time. I met so many great people and got to talk non-stop about my two favourite subjects: photobooths and comics. I even got to meet four other photobooth fans in person! 

I decided not to sell any of my own merchandise, instead I helped out at the Conundrum Press table. We put up a sign to promote my book's debut in May, which ended up being a great conversation starter (even if some people picked it up and mistook it for being a very large yet weightless book.)

The experience was very motivating! I still have many hours left of illustrating to go before Photobooth: A Biography is finished and Expozine was just the pick me up I needed. 

This photo was taken before the doors opened, it's misleading because the event was actually packed to the brim with attendees. I'm here with Dakota McFadzean, who's book Other Stories and the Horse You Rode In On launched this weekend. Photo by the mastermind behind Conundrum, Andy Brown.

The Big Screen and Business Cards

Holy Mackerel. The last two weeks I had my hands full with moving. Almost everything else got put on the backburner. I recognized that for professional reasons, it's essential that I'm in Montreal until the summer of 2014, so why not make my stay here a little more comfortable? My place is in a prime location and is fairly spacious. I'm quite happy with how my DIY projects for my new room have turned out and I'll post more about those later. For now, here's a picture of my new work space.

 In other news...on Friday November 1st, Last Vegas, a film starring Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline, opened in theatres. It's exciting because the film features a replica of a 1950s photobooth, which is used by the characters in a flashback to their childhoods. The booth was made by A&A Studios in Chicago last autumn. I hand painted all the signage on the interior and exterior and designed the wrap around graphic.  As a little Easter Egg, I included a strip of pictures of myself on the outside of the booth, just so I can say that I was in a film with all those stars.

I haven't seen the movie yet, but I'm definitely curious to see how my craftsmanship looks on the big screen. It was a really fun project to work on, I miss working with A&A Studios very much.

This week I received an exciting parcel in the mail. I ordered business cards from the British company, Moo. They're known for high quality, double-sided, colour cards, that can have up to fifty different images on one side. They're great for creative professionals because you can share a little bit of your portfolio with every card you hand out. I chose fourteen different images of my illustrations, my book and my photobooth art, so that they're tailored to the situation I'm in.

Next weekend is Expozine here in Montreal. My publisher, Conundrum Press will have a table and I'll be there promoting my book and handing out these new cards. Photobooth: A Biography doesn't come out until May, but it's never too soon to meet people and make some new friends in the same field.

All Work and No Play

I haven't written a post in almost two weeks. Normally when that happens it's because I'm insanely busy, but in this case, it's because the stuff I've been working on can't be shared publicly yet. Since June, when I received a grant which enabled me to work on my book full time, I've been putting in long days at my desk. And honestly, the last few months have had their high and lows. I feel privileged and grateful that everyday I get to write and draw and I don't really have a boss to report to (but instead a friendly and supportive publisher.) On the flip side, I'm almost always alone and most of my human connections take place online. In the grand scheme of things, I'm okay with this because I see it as a trade off. When my book comes out in May, I'll have a few very social months while on my little book tour. In conclusion, lots of work now for lots of play later.

Last month while I was at a party (a rare occurrence) I met a writer and we got to talking about our books. Not before long we discovered that we share the same fear. Occasionally, I'll feel doubtful about my work, especially if I haven't seen another human in a while and the food I've been eating is of the frozen variety. My reoccurring daymare (daydream+nightmare) is that I am in fact Jack Nicholson in The Shining and the "genius" book I've been working on is discovered to be nothing more than a mad person's ramblings. I was relieved to learn that this is a common fear and that the best thing to do is to just  keep on working... and maybe make some friends in the city you live in too.

Its actually been tough to keep the book underwraps. One of the main reasons I decided to pursue illustration as my primary career path over a life in the fine arts is because I feel that human relationships, collaboration and community are a big part of it. I like the accessibility of illustration and question a lot of the institutional constructs of what art is supposed to be. This is also why I chose to switch from making art for a gallery- which can only be in one place at one time, to making a book- that can be read by anyone, anywhere, at anytime. Connecting with an audience feels very satisfying, like inserting the last piece in a 5000 piece puzzle. As far as my book goes, I'm only about 3,467 pieces in and I should be getting back to work soon.

But after all that, I can't not-share something, so here is a newer Photobooth Portrait* of a booth that is still active in Berlin. (I made it in colour, though the version in the book will be in grayscale.)

copyright Meags Fitzgerald 2013

*The Photobooth Portraits are full page pieces that are drawn in a style that reflects the personality of the booth. These pages standout from the otherwise more comic-like, line based drawings of the rest of the book.

Poetry Festival Design

In August I finished a logo, poster and t-shirt design for the Victoria Spoken Word Festival, which will take place in March. This year's theme is storytelling, so I focused the concept around a team of characters I designed based on traditional archetypes with unconventional twists. We made colour and b&w versions of the designs. Everyone at the festival is a dream to work with, I'm really happy to have had this fun project!

Over the Moon!

Last week was the week of good news!

Firstly, I found out that five of my works are runner-ups in Creative Quarterly most recent (33rd) competition in the student/ recent graduate illustration category. As a runner-up my pieces will be featured on their online gallery for four months in the winter.  

Secondly, on September 29th my  film LaCuna screened at the Edmonton International Film Festival and won the Jury Prize for Best Animated Short Film. This project was a huge time investment and is more experimental than most of my works, so the recognition means more to me than most accolades.

And thirdly, two professional creatives, who's work I deeply admire have written quotes in support of my book, Photobooth: A Biography. Illustrator & comicbook artist, Jillian Tamaki and author & CBC's host of Wiretap, Jonathan Goldstein both wrote some kind words for me. 

“Photobooth: A Biography is an impressive and ambitious project. A deep exploration of an unexpected topic that is in turn historical, journalistic, and personal.”
— Jillian Tamaki

“Fitzgerald has created something that’s more than candid personal memoire, more than carefully researched cultural history — she’s created a work brimming with that rarest of things: love. That I should use such a word to explain a young woman’s feelings for photobooths certainly sounds improbable and maybe even a little crazy. And that’s precisely why this book is so wonderful.”
— Jonathan Goldstein

Up top is my "author's portrait" and below is the book cover. More information can be found at my publisher's website. 

Tauro Tauro Animation

In February of 2010 I was drawing a lot of mystical bulls. I was doing a self-made residency of sorts in Northern Saskatchewan and I came up with an idea for a stop motion photobooth animation using the imagery. Fast forward to May 2012, I shot the photos for the animation at the Auto-Photo Warehouse during a visit to Montreal.  Over the last year I edited it in my free time, and finally two months ago I asked Aaron Read, an incredible multi-disciplinary artist, to score the animation with his dreamy sounds. 

It's been four years in the making and Tauro Tauro is finally finished! I've submitted it to a couple of film festivals, but honestly, I don't know if that's the best route for it. (It is a very experimental and niche little film.) So, pending on the success or failure of those submissions, I may just post the full video online for anyone to enjoy. For now, here's the poster!

And for anyone in Edmonton, my animation LaCuna is playing at the Edmonton International Film Festival this Sunday at 1pm at Empire Theatres downtown.