When an analog photo booth and gallery popped up on Orchard Street in Manhattan, New Yorkers did what they do best: lined up for hours to see what it was about. And Autophoto was an instant success — so successful, in fact, that it’s now expanded to Toronto.
Last week, Autophoto opened in Toronto and joined the city’s growing list of museums. This one features six black-and-white analog photo booths, Canada’s only polaroid booth as well as a gallery documenting 100 years of history of the photo booth (including some rare photos).
“Toronto has such a vibrant creative community, and it felt like a natural next chapter for Autophoto. The city also has a fascinating photo booth history, including the Phototeria, invented in Toronto in 1928, which we’re proud to have on display,” says Emily Botelho, the brand’s head of expansion. “There are personal connections, too. [AUTOPHOTO founder] Bre Conley Saxon is a dual citizen, and our partner, Four Poses Photobooth, is based here. With those ties and Toronto’s rich creative history, it felt like a natural fit for our second location.”
The Toronto photo booth gallery is located on Queen Street West, an area the Autophoto team picked on purpose. “Queen Street West has such a strong connection to art, music, fashion and independent creative businesses,” says founder Breanna Conley Saxon. “We wanted Autophoto to be somewhere people could discover it naturally, and this neighbourhood felt like the perfect fit.”
Conley Saxon came up with the idea for Autophoto out of a personal passion, which started when she acquired her first machine in 2009 and went on a mission to restore and preserve analog machines. She’s personally restored several of them for public use across North America, hoping to allow people to reconnect with the history of the analogue machine. And she hopes it reminds people of the value of photography and its history.
“I hope people leave with a greater appreciation for analog photography and the ingenuity behind these machines. A photo booth is essentially a tiny, fully automated darkroom, and there’s something magical about watching a decades-old machine produce a photograph using traditional chemistry,” Conley Saxon says. “More than anything, I hope people enjoy the simple pleasure of making something tangible and leave with a photograph they’ll treasure.”
Autophoto is completely free to visit, and the museum experience is packed with rare artifacts and over 100 years of photography history. Use of the different photo booths costs $10 per picture. It’s located at 501 Queen St. W.
For more photo booths in Toronto, click here.