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.

Autumn in the Windy City

While I was at the Photobooth Convention in May, I met many wonderful people. Amongst these people were Anthony and Andrea Vizzari who own A&A Studios in Chicago. A&A is a really interesting business, they refurbish vintage photobooths and either preserve the mechanical elements for chemical photos or convert it to digital. These high quality booths are for sale and available as rentals for events. They also operate a shop which sells vintage cameras and related paraphernalia. They have a really creative team of people working with them and are leaders in the grassroots photobooth movement.

So… it makes me insanely happy to get to work with them this fall. I’ll be doing an internship in Chicago from September to December, working on special projects. We are still developing/finalizing said projects but it seems like I will get to use my illustration, design, sewing, bookbinding and crafting knowledge, all while being in the midst of photobooths. Needless to say, this is a dream job and I’m sure the experience will provide me with some great insights for my graphic novel.

In the meanwhile, I’m planning my European Photobooth Expedition. It’s shaping up with only a few details to still confirm. I also hope to fit in quick trips to Toronto and New York in the fall, which should mostly complete the research for Photobooth, A Biography.

This coming week I’m going to visit Newfoundland with my parents and sister. It’ll be my first time and it’s also the only Canadian province I haven’t been to yet. With my new ties to Auto-Photo (the company that makes and services photobooths in Canada) I have secured the locations of 4 photobooths along our route that are not yet documented for Photobooth.net’s Locator feature. I’m happy to visit these gems before they are gone. And generally, I’m just happy and grateful for all the new experiences!

Concept Art Booklet is Ready!

Since I got back from the first leg of the Photobooth Expedition (Los Angeles & Montreal) I have been working away at the concept art for Photobooth, A Biography and it's finally ready! The people who contributed to my IndieGoGo campaign and selected the Combo Pack perk will be getting one in the mail shortly. For anyone else interested in having a copy, you can buy it now on my Etsy page, Two Hands Two Crowns.  It's $15 Canadian plus shipping. Every copy is hand bound and the pages are printed in rich black.

Le Photobooth-Expedition se poursuit en Europe!

I should start this post by saying that every day I wake feeling so fortunate to get to work on Photobooth, A Biography and that I’m extra thankful for how seamlessly the progress for is coming along. With the help of a lot of wonderful people, everything has been glitch-free so far. Last week, thanks to my web programmer friend Scott Borys, I made a simple webpage for the graphic novel and will update it when there are significant advancements. Check it out!

And speaking of significant advancements, I’m pleased to say that the Photobooth Expedition continues this summer with a trip to Europe! I’ll be there for almost three weeks, from July 18 to August 10. Each city I stop in has a purpose, whether it is to see a photobooth art exhibition, meet booth owners, artists and curators. I’m still working out a lot of details, but so far these are the cities and this is the order I’ll be visiting: Brussels, Paris, Amsterdam, (maybe) Cologne, Nimes, (hopefully) Gap, (maybe) Zurich, Florence, (maybe) Cesena and Milan.  If anyone has friends or family in Brussels or Milan that I could stay with for a couple nights that would be much appreciated!

Meanwhile, I’m also finishing up the last touches on the Concept Art booklet for Photobooth, A Biography and it should be ready to buy online, at my Etsy shop, by Friday. This is a sneak peek at the cover, the hand is a flap that keeps the book closed when the quarter is inserted. I have a lot more updates to share but I have to get back to work so I’ll save it for another day!

A Visit to Auto Photo

The second part to my Photobooth Expedition was a visit to Auto Photo in Montreal, they’re one of the few companies left in the world that are working with chemical photobooths. Everyone there was amazingly helpful and put up with me for hours while I asked question after question. I conducted a few interviews as research for my book but some of the questions were just about things I had been wondering a long time…. like the real names of the people in the sample strips on booths, and the difference between a Model 17C and a 17P. It was also neat to have years’ worth of assumptions confirmed for me, Jeff  (the Vice President and grandson of the founder) knows the other half to stories about booths that I had speculated about. Generally, during my trips in Los Angeles and Montreal it felt great to talk to people who understand the photobooth world. For almost a decade I had no one (in person) to have a dialogue with about this passion that consumes a good chunk of my life. I don’t think I knew how starved I was for conversation.

This is a treasure chest of photos from many different booth models that date back to the 1960s.This box was one of several filled to the brim with old photos.

Jeff was kind and generous enough to let me take photos for my next animation in one of their booths at the warehouse. My sister, Eryn and her friend Perryn were my loyal assistants for one of the days of shooting. I’m a real lucky duck to have had their help. Here are some photos of us working on the animation.  I also seized the opportunity to take some more experimental photos and I have added new work to my flickr.
 
I have lots of material for my book and many hours of editing photobooth frames together ahead of me. I also have THREE pieces of exciting photobooth related news, none of which are confirmed yet, so I will keep them under wraps until they’re ready to share. Stay posted!

International Photobooth Convention Recap

Whoa!

A lot has happened in the two week hiatus I took from blogging. I’ve hardly a moment’s rest since I left on the first leg of my photobooth expedition on May 16. I landed in Los Angeles and was greeted by my old friend from Edmonton, Kory, who arrived a couple hours before me.  We were picked up by our amazing host, Corbin, who welcomed us with open arms to his home which is referred to as Hotel Guacamole.  Corbin took a couple days to show us around LA and then the convention took off.

I made a whole bunch of new friends, some of whom I didn’t know of before and others who I had been communicating with online for years. Before that weekend I had only met one other “photobooth enthusiast” in person, so it was really exciting to finally find people who share my passion.  A lot happened, more than can be quickly shared here… and most of the stories I will save for my graphic novel about photobooths.

Here are some photos from just a few highlights. First are some photos from the arcade at Santa Monica Pier which as two chemical colour booths, Kory and I used one. Secondly is me posing inside the lovely (but not presently functioning) Model 11 booth that was on display at the convention. Another big highlight was the Photobooth pub crawl which Brian from Photobooth.net organized. We rented a pub crawl bus and drove from bar to bar to visit their photobooths. We were an odd crowd to be on a pub crawl and that made it even more fun. The convention had a B&W and colour photobooth which were free for the public to use, so lastly, here are my keepsakes from the convention.

I’m in Montreal for a few more days, I’ve been here working on a couple projects but mainly I’ve been doing research for my graphic novel. I have three really exciting pieces of news that I’d love to share but will wait until they become more official/concrete. I’ll be posting more photobooth adventures in the coming days!

PHOTOBOOTH EXPEDITION in 3, 2, 1

Yes, that’s right, I leave for my photobooth expedition in just 3 short days and there’s much left to do. Mainly I’m finishing up the props for the animation I’ll be shooting in a photobooth at the Auto Photo warehouse.

I’ve neglected my blog as I’ve been tackling a tidal wave of work, mostly of the illustration sort. I’m so excited to go on this trip, I feel kinda stupid dizzy thinking about it. I feel so fortunate for this experience!

I’ve started sending out the perks from my IndieGoGo campaign, I’ve mailed 18 of 80 so I’ll have lots of stuff to attend to when I get back from my trip at the very end of May.

Here’s Hank helping me with a stack of mail ready to go out.

Animation Preparation

I leave on my Photobooth Expedition in 17 days, on top of getting things ready for the convention and mailing out the donor’s perks, I’m also finishing the props for the stop motion animation I’ll be shooting in the Auto Photo warehouse. (For more info about this you can see this blog post.)

Yesterday I made three paper masks and I tested them out in a booth today. I’m happy with how they turned out. These paper masks are secondary characters in the storyline, with the silkscreened fabric and crocheted heads below as the central characters. Those mask photos were taken by Lindsay Duncan.

I still have many smaller puppets to make. I've been doing a lot of illustrations lately so having something physical to work on has been a nice break.

So Many Thank Yous!

My campaign ended last night, it was extremely successful and a very positive experience. So many people donated; family, close friends, old friends, teachers, photobooth fans and complete strangers. The dollars raised will fund my research trips and more and the supportive comments I received will be good fuel for the long days when I'm working on the book.

For the curious, here are my final numbers. In 23 days I had 80 donors, my goal was $2,550 and I raised $3,737, which is 147% of my goal.

I can't say thank you enough, but I'll start to trying by thanking the donors from the last two days of the campaign.

Now it's time for me to switch gears! I leave in 22 days. I have to get everything ready for the trips and finish up the last of the perks so they're ready to be mailed out when I get back.

Photobooth Expedition Campaign Countdown

There are only 11 hours left of the Photobooth Expedition campaign. If you've been thinking about contributing or had your eye on a perk, now's the time to act! Here's a recap on some of the perks. http://www.indiegogo.com/photobooth-expedition

 

Photobooth Expedition Mail Art Update

My campaign ends in 2 and half days so I’ve been prepping all my perks! I made these tiny fabric envelopes out of colourful cottons that I test printed my airmail pattern on. I’ve addressed the first letter to myself because I’m curious how the envelope will hold up after going through the postal system. To seal the envelope I’m going to baste stitch a seam in a matching colour of embroidery thread that the recipient will have to snip to open. I’ve also crazy-glued the stamp on so it doesn’t fall off along the way.

The $200 perk for my campaign is to receive mail art for every month for the year. I think I will send out the first month’s letters in these fabric envelopes. As an extra incentive to new donors, I will also send a letter in a fabric envelope to the first 3 people who donate $15 or more. They’ll receive this in addition to their regular perk! Go here to donate http://www.indiegogo.com/photobooth-expedition

Thinking about the Mail Art for One Year perk, I also started to organize my airmail collection and thinking about the envelopes I’ll be using.

Donor Thank You's for start of April

I got behind in posting my donor thank you's here. Here are the names of the last two weeks worth of amazing people! I really appreciate all the support! I currently have 67 donors, comprised of family, friends and strangers.

Photobooth Expedition Extra Special Perk!

I spent this weekend printing and sewing the photobooth tote bags and airmail cushions. I'm really pleased with how the tote bags turned out, they're even better than I imagined they would be!

I also took some time to make this one-of-a-kind airmail cushion. It's the only one like it, I made it by combining printed canvas with some striped canvas that I did my initial test prints on.

The cushion will go to the next person who donates $25 and selects the cushion as their perk on my campaign! http://www.indiegogo.com/photobooth-expedition

Photobooth Expedition Postcard Update

Today I made three postcard designs. The themes I decided to work with were vintage, found and travel. I started by going through some collage materials like paper scraps, envelopes, old postcards and so on. I really enjoy collaging but I knew I wanted different levels of opacity in these, so instead of physically cutting and pasting, I scanned in all my materials and played around with them digitally, staying true to their original scale and properties.

The first postcard is a combination of four vintage photobooth pictures I bought online and a vintage postcard of Jasper National Park that I got at a flea market ages ago.

The second postcard is of three photostrips I'd found over the course of a few years and a piece of polka dot fabric. If you're interested in found photos, last year I wrote a series of short fiction based on the found photobooth pictures in my collection.

Lastly, is a postcard inspired by my travels. It features a strip I took in Berlin and the signage from that booth and operational instructions I had photographed in the inside of a booth in Sydney. The instructions are translated in 5 languages (!) so I liked the idea of using the three languages of the airmail envelope.

As an extra special perk, whoever donates in the next 24 hours (ending at 12 AM Atlantic time, Tuesday) will receive all three postcards with blank back sides. All donors, regardless of the size of donation will receive this perk. Visit the campaign here to become a donor.

(Please note that you won't be able to select this on IndieGoGo, I'll just be keeping track of it myself.)

Photobooth Expedition Tote Bag Update

Yesterday I silkscreened the tests for the photobooth tote bags I'm giving to people who donate $30 or more to my campaign. I had designed the pattern a few weeks ago (knowing that they would be a perk for my campaign) but I hadn't got a chance until yesterday to test out the pattern.

The colour I mixed came out more sunflower then mustard when it dried, but that's why it's a test. I printed it on cotton but the actual bags will be printed on bleached canvas. I bought 12 meters of it last weekend, I have a dizzying number of hours printing ahead of me.

I originally planned on making 30 bags, but because of time restraints I think I will only be able to make 20 (17 are already claimed on the Photobooth Expedition.) I'm excited to start printing the actual totes this Friday and sew them after I finish my classes later in the month.

I'm very please to say that I've raised 125% of my goal, the campaign is still on for another 15 days so I'd like to raise as many funds as possible in the next two weeks, as anything I raise from now will go to costs associated with producing the graphic novel. If you want to one of the three remaining tote bags to be yours, you can donate at ww.indiegogo.com/photobooth-expedition!

Photobooth Expedition Airmail Update

I've been a real busy bee lately! I love all the stuff I'm working on but I will sure be thankful when I'm finished my five University classes in two weeks time.

Today I spent the better part of my day sewing the airmail cushions, which are the perk for the $25 donation level. I got about half of them done. I sewed them in the fashion studio at NSCAD so I was able to use their industrial serger. I love serging edges. This feeling is something you can only understand if you have used a serger yourself.

I've also designed a très spécial airmail cushion that will be a bonus perk in one of the coming days. Stay tuned to look for it!

Photobooth Expedition One-Time-Special-Prize

UPDATE ON THE UPDATE: I reached $3000 with the help of Colleen, Geoffrey and Cari! Clearly, I know all the best people on this planet.

UPDATE: I'm $90 away from $3000 so I'm offering a one-time-only prize (actually two time prize because I did my math wrong) for the person who puts my campaign at or over $3000! In addition to the standard perk or perks you select you will also get mentioned, featured, or referenced to in my finished graphic novel!

http://www.indiegogo.com/photobooth-expedition

New (well, old) Photobooth Art

I'm pleased as punch to say that only four days into my Photobooth Expedition Campaign that I made my goal of $2,550!

In honor of this I took some time to scan some old experiments that I've never shared online before. I've created a Flickr account for them and other pieces of photobooth art that I've shared here in the past. Here's the new Flickr account.

There is still 20 days left of my campaign and I still have lots of photobooth tote bags and airmail cushions left to give away as perks so I'm continuing to seek donations. Any funds raised now will directly to the costs of producing the Photobooth, A Biography, the graphic novel that all of these efforts are for.

It's a great help to me if others share the campaign on their blogs, facebook, etc. So much of a help that anyone who shares my campaign will receive a photobooth postcard in the mail (this is the $5 perk) to thank them personally! http://www.indiegogo.com/photobooth-expedition

Both these strips were taken in 2006.