Why Are Bespoke Photo Booths Everywhere Right Now?

Recently, even celebrities and luxury brands have been creating custom photo booth experiences. It makes sense. People don’t just want a photograph anymore. They want a moment, a memory and something they can physically take away.

As someone who spends my life hiding inside a wooden booth drawing strangers for three minutes at a time, I have obviously been watching this trend with great interest.

The thing all these experiences have in common is that they are not really about the photo.

They are about the queue.

Stay with me.

The best entertainment at an event is the thing that makes people gather. It gives guests something to do, but more importantly it gives them something to talk about.

A good bespoke photo booth becomes a little world of its own.

People walk past. They peek inside. They ask what is happening. They drag their friends over.

A live portrait booth works in exactly the same way, except when people open the curtain they discover there is an actual human inside, armed with a pen and making questionable decisions about their eyebrows.

The surprise is the entertainment.

The drawing is the souvenir.

And the conversation is the thing nobody expected.

After drawing thousands of faces at weddings, parties and brand events, I have realised that people don’t actually need another digital file sitting forgotten in their camera roll.

They want a story.

They want something they can stick on their fridge.

They want something that starts with:
“You’re never going to believe what happened at this wedding…”

So yes, bespoke photo booths are having a moment.

But the most memorable ones are the ones where there is still a human somewhere involved.

Even if that human is trapped inside a wooden box for four hours.