Why Are Photo Booths So Romantic, Bringing People Together?

Whilst over a century old, photo booths have not only survived but thrived, and the big reason for this is love.

Part of this is the popularity of photo booths for weddings, as a fun way to capture guests at their most unguarded and beautifully authentic, contrasting with the delicately staged wedding photography earlier in the day.

However, in an age of selfies, social media and being able to take thousands of pictures whenever you like, photo booths have thrived, but why is this?

The answer is ultimately the same as why you see booths at wedding receptions and corporate expos; they bring the real versions of people closer.

Why Do People Use Photo Booths?

In the 1920s, when photo booths had just been invented, the big appeal of the booth was that you could go in, take a picture and have it developed and in your hand within minutes. A century later, the appeal is the same, but the meaning behind the picture has changed.

Up until the rise of the instant camera, digital cameras and the cameraphone, photo booths were the easiest, fastest and often cheapest way of taking a picture, which opened the door for capturing little fleeting moments and creating memories.

Whilst it was thought that selfies would replace photo booths in this regard, the rise of social media turned something ephemeral and imperfect into something staged and highly refined, losing what made photo booth pictures so intimate and special.

What Makes A Photo Booth Intimate?

The intimacy of a photo booth and why it is still so connected with dating and romance involves not only the camera itself but the space you take the photograph in and the strips of photographs you receive as a result.

Unlike a selfie, which is either forgotten or public, a photo booth image is a tangible memory of a beautiful, fleeting moment that you can keep with you, hold or do what you like with. 

The plot of the film Amelie even revolves around the beautiful meaning of photo booths.