Retro reigns at Maine’s only analog photo booth
PORTLAND — It’s a simple way to preserve a memory. It’s a TikTok trend, a trip back in time, and a test of patience.
Maine’s only working analog photo booth arrived in the Old Port over the summer, captivating locals and tourists.
Dylan Jackson, 20, of Portland, and Mika Reed, 20, of Farmington, glued their eyes to a tiny television screen on top of the booth in Gritty McDuff’s Brew Pub. It showed a grainy livestream of what was happening inside the machine: a circular mechanism called a “spider assembly” rotated a strip of photographic paper and dipped it into vats of chemicals, gradually revealing images of their smiling faces.
The process takes four minutes — plenty of time for anticipation to build. Jackson and Reed grabbed their strip when the machine spit it out, visibly joyous at the result.
“I think it’s so cool that you get to watch your photos develop,” Jackson said.
The machine is believed to be one of about 270 analog photo booths still operating in the world, according to its technician, Margaret Skiff. Invented in 1925, the device had its heyday in the 1940s and ’50s. Back then, they were ubiquitous at variety stores, arcades, fairs, bus stations and other high-traffic commercial areas.
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Sisters Shannon Gressly, left, and Jenna Gressly look closely at the pictures they had taken at the analog photo booth at Gritty McDuff’s Brew Pub in Portland on Oct. 16. The Gressly’s, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, were in Portland for their brother, Tanner Gressly’s wedding earlier that day. The wedding party had seen the photo booth on TikTok. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image
Digital versions quickly took over in the 1990s, but Skiff said a small community of dedicated technicians work to preserve the old-school machines, and now they are experiencing a comeback.
For some, the vintage booths are a destination.
“Every time we find a new one, we always go,” said Kainoa CW, a student at Mount Holyoke College. “I see pictures of people who have been doing this since they were young, and they have a whole collection now, and I’m like, ‘That’s gonna be me when I’m older.'”
Many people who crowded the pub’s front alcove on a recent Saturday for the one-of-a-kind photos said they are pursuing more physical keepsakes instead of containing all of their memories in their phone. Some said they think the analog machines produce better black-and-white pictures than their digital successors.
“If we go any other place, we could get a regular strip or something, but the fact that it’s analog is the pull for sure,” said Khang Nguyen, 26, of Boston. “It just captures a different type of energy.”
Analog photo booth pictures from Tanner and Courtney Gressly’s wedding day dry at Gritty McDuff’s Brew Pub in Portland on Oct. 15. The Gressly’s, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, got married earlier that day in Portland. They heard about the photo booth on TikTok. Courtney’s father, Ray Lyons, and brother, Corey Lyons, are in the pictures at right. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image
Each strip is $8, and the Portland machine only accepts card payments. Adjust the stool for height, flip the background to black or white depending on your clothing or skin tone, and be ready to pose and change positions for the four rapid-fire photographs.
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Skiff, a 28-year old Portlander who also runs popular TikTok, Instagram and YouTube accounts, decided she wanted to get involved with analog photo booths after using one during a trip to New York City. Late last year, she reached out to people on Facebook in hopes of finding one to buy, and in the spring started conversations with Wesley Landson, a Massachusetts-based restorer of the booths.
Landson had revived the dilapidated booth after buying it from a Mainer, and was searching for a technician to operate it for him in Portland. He taught Skiff the ropes in a few days, and in July she unveiled it at Off Track Pizza. She moved it to Gritty McDuff’s in September, where there is more space, Skiff said. It has gone through 10,000 strips since settling in the city.
Alyssa Shirley, left, and Britney Andersen had their pictures taken in the analog photo booth at Gritty McDuff’s Brew Pub in Portland on Oct. 15. The friends, from Seattle, were on a weeklong Stephen King-themed vacation when they saw the photo booth on Instagram. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image
“I think I had some idea of how popular it was going to be, but the response has just been so much greater than we expected,” Skiff said.
Maintaining an analog photo booth is no simple job, and there is a lot of room for error, according to Skiff. It’s essentially a mini darkroom — the chemicals and photo paper need replacement every week or two, which takes about two hours.
After switching those parts out, Skiff poses for a couple of test strips. If anything is off with the machine’s alignment, temperature, aperture, or the camera’s focus, the photos may turn out off-color, scratchy or show white light patches, telling her where to make adjustments so that the strips appear “crispy.”
Monitoring the livestream of the inner workings of the machine from her phone, Skiff has shown up within minutes of noticing something is wrong to make quick fixes before people walk away with imperfect strips.
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“People that love it really appreciate the nostalgia and the physical aspect of it,” Skiff said. “And it’s the anticipation, of ‘Oh, we only get one, and we didn’t see it on a screen. We have no idea how these pictures are going to turn out.’ I think they’re some of the best pictures you’ll take of yourself.”
Courtney Gressly and her husband, Tanner Gressly, have their picture taken inside an analog photo booth at Gritty McDuff’s Brew Pub in Portland on Oct. 15. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image
The booth, and other booths like it in other states, have gone viral on social media. Many of its visitors say they knew about it from TikTok or Instagram.
Nikayla Speltz and Rahul Sharon, from Minnesota, had just gotten engaged on a trip to Acadia National Park, Baxter State Park and Portland, and came to the booth for pictures to celebrate. They said it’s nearly impossible to use the only analog photo booth back at home without waiting for hours in long lines at the state fair.
“It’s a cool way to capture a moment,” Speltz said. “Film feels like this special thing again.”
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Tagged: entertainment, photography
Madeleine is a community reporter for Gorham, Buxton and Standish. She started her journalism career in Vermont, where she reported for Seven Days and served as the editor-in-chief of Middlebury College's. More by Madeleine Kaptein
