Automatic

Once upon a time, every high street had a 'Photo-me' or 'Photo Automat' or 'Hot Shots' photography booth. Intended for producing cheap, accessible mug shots for passports and other ID, they were rapidly adopted by teenagers (and some adults) intent on the irreverent documentation of their lives, loves, fashions and frolics.

The Heath Robinson-esque innards of these pre-digital machines used analogue photochemistry to produce a strip of four stark, contrasty black and white images. However, as the 20th century closed, they were superseded by digital devices yielding colour images in double-quick time, latterly emailed to your inbox if you were so inclined.

But now chemical automats are back, and in October those delightful people at Stills Centre for Photography in Edinburgh (www.stills.org) laid on a party for the launch of their very own retro Automat. And yours truly had a try-out, and somewhat unexpectedly launched a three-minute career as a model...

More details are on the StillsAutomat instagram page here: https://www.instagram.com/stillsautomat.edinburgh/

Photo: © John Hamilton