How Did An Artist Turn CCTV Cameras Into A Photo Booth?

The photo booth is a concept so robust that it has not only survived but thrived in a time when a lot of technology pundits believed it had been superseded by mobile phone selfies and other forms of digital photographic self-expression.

However, as the continued presence of photo booths at corporate events and social gatherings proves, whilst the technology can be found elsewhere, the concept and the way in which it brings people together will always have a place in society.

This rebirth of the photo booth has also led to a wide variety of unusual styles and forms of booths, from magic mirrors that allow people to take a picture of themselves in the mirror to 360 photo booths that provide a panorama or even a 3D-printed model of themselves.

However, one of the most unusual photo booth concepts is a work of guerilla art known as Traffic Cam Photobooth, which uses the cameras that capture anyone who is out and about in towns and cities and uses them as a tool of self-expression.

Developed by Morry Kolman, a digital artist from Brooklyn, New York, TCP is partly an unusual and quirky form of self-expression, allowing people to use the cameras that are all around us with publicly accessible data to present a side of themselves they would not usually even think about.

Whilst initially developed and launched as a statement about the encroachment of surveillance and its effects on civil liberties, it has also taken off as a very unique photo booth experience in its own right that is almost antithetical to the booths seen today.

Rather than having the perfect lighting and close-up cameras to show a complete picture of a person, TCP does the exact opposite, showing a person from far away, often out of frame and in relatively low quality.

It is a unique way for people to look at themselves, and whilst designed around New York City’s live feeds, one camera in Derry, Northern Ireland has been set up as well on the site.