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For 50 years, Alan Adler had one job – to keep Melbourne's analogue photo booths alive

ABC News

an hour ago

ABC News

For 50 years, Alan Adler had one job – to keep Melbourne's analogue photo booths alive

It was on Broadway in New York City, in 1925, when a man named Anatol Josepho patented and operated the first coin-operated self-printing public photo booth. Back then, the cubical machines that people entered to enjoy a few minutes of privacy, covered by drapery on one side, did not have a "specific usage". A hundred years later, their numbers faded amid digitisation with only approximately 200 operating photo booths left in the world. Melbourne is home to seven of them, thanks to a man called Alan. At a gallery space in Melbourne, attached to white four-metre-high walls, hundreds of photo strips of a smiling man with wavy hair line the horizon like a pixelated timeline. As you follow on, the man ages, skin steadily wrinkling, but his grin remains. Ms Langford said the exhibition "Auto-Photo: A Life in Portraits" celebrates the life of Alan Adler who, for decades, was the sole keeper of Melbourne's analogue photo booths — notably the one on Flinders Street. The exhibition zooms into Alan's life through black and white, and sometimes coloured, snaps and photo strips. Alan, who died earlier this year aged 92, would start work at 6:30am to check his photo booths, printing hundreds of his own photo strips as a part of a test run. "Alan Adler's archive [is] where … hundreds of strips show him aging across 50 years. So, we've had to hang every single one of those individually," Ms Langford, who has been working on the exhibition for more than a year, said. Ms Langford said she was one of the "fortunate" few who has met Alan in person to talk and write about his story. A book that shares the name of the exhibition has also been published to honour Alan's life and the individuals around him who have committed to keeping Melbourne's photo-booth tradition alive. The publisher of the book, Perimeter Editions, told the ABC 1,500 copies have been sold in Australia and internationally so far. In the lead up to the exhibition, work has been busy for Chris Sutherland and Jess Norman, who are the current custodians of Melbourne's seven working photo booths. The exhibition involved reviving what was left of Melbourne's operating photo booths, years of mentorship with Alan himself, and compiling a collection of photo strips dating back from up to 50 years ago. Ms Norman and Mr Sutherland said they gave up their nine-to-five jobs to continue Alan's business venture and "wouldn't have it any other way". Ms Norman said at his peak, Alan ran a total of 16 photo booths all by himself. "It's a mammoth task," she said. Mr Sutherland said Alan would have been doing the same job for decades alone, even after the industry started to dwindle. "This exhibition was celebrating the man behind the curtain … the man that made all that happen." One of the goals of the exhibition, Ms Norman said, was to reunite "lost strips" to their real owners. There have been about 250 unclaimed photo strips found over the years, which are on display at the exhibition. Nine out of 10 times, strips are left because patrons may have forgotten their photo strips on the strip holder, or the photo booth encounters an issue. "There's a couple of hundred moving parts within the machine … for something that's 50 years old, on the odd occasion something can go wrong." The couple said people can claim their long-lost photographs after the exhibition ends. "They will need to contact us and then we will contact them for the retrieval of their strips and proof that it is them," Ms Norman said. Ms Langford believes Melbourne's photo booth culture will live on for more decades to come. In a progressively digital world, she said photo strips are mementos that offer a sense of tangibility. "It's a very one-off moment that's kind of held forever." Auto-Photo: A Life in Portraits is an exhibition by the Centre of Contemporary Photography (CCP) and is held at the RMIT Gallery until August 16.

'Quite happily' - inductee played hard off the field

West Australian

2 hours ago

West Australian

'Quite happily' - inductee played hard off the field

Imagine the reaction if Max Gawn was serving an AFL suspension and spent the new few days on a trip to Lord's to watch the World Test Championship. Australian Football Hall Of Fame inductee Peter Darley freely admits he wouldn't make it as a player now. Darley gave one of the all-time acceptance speeches at Tuesday night's annual induction dinner. While at times his comments drew an uncomfortable gasp from the audience at the Melbourne black tie function, he was the hit of the evening. His best among several memorable anecdotes was being suspended in 1972 while starring as a ruckman for SANFL side South Adelaide. He was also working in sales for the then-national airline TAA and that gave him first-class international plane tickets. So without his coach knowing, Darley flew to London to watch an Ashes Test. He was at Lord's when Australian bowler Bob Massie took 16 wickets on debut. He celebrated hard on the flight home, but soon after his return had to play Glenelg. "I must have turned on the gas and we went past Glenelg, but after three-quarter time I'd run out of gas and I called the bloody stretcher," he said. "Halfway off the ground the stretcher broke and I had to get up and walk off. "Football was something I did on a Saturday and fortunately I was able to get away with it. I wouldn't today, I tell you." Darley starred in South's most recent premiership, way back in 1964, under legendary coach Neil Kerley. "He had us running through sand hills and I said 'well, that's where I used to take my girlfriends'," Darley said. "He taught (us) how to play as a team, not only on the football field, but he also offered us the opportunity to play off the football field - which I took up quite readily and happily." In paying tribute to his fellow inductees, Melbourne great Garry Lyon was particularly taken with Darley. "I'd be happy to go on a footy trip with Peter Darley - I don't know who you are, Pete, but I like the sound of you,," Lyon said. While Darley and Lyon drew the laughs, AFLW greats Erin Phillips and Daisy Pearce brought the emotion with their acceptance speeches. They joined trailblazer Debbie Lee as the only women in the hall of fame. Phillips and Pearce paid tribute to Lee, while Phillips and her father Greg provided the highlight of the night. They are the first father and daughter to be hall of fame members, with Greg already inducted for his stellar playing career at Port Adelaide and Collingwood. "To Dad, I can't imagine how hard it would have been to tell your 13-year-old daughter that she couldn't play the game she loves any more," Phillips said, her voice breaking. "And 27 years later, she's standing next to you in the Hall of Fame." South Australian goalkicking machine Ken Farmer was elevated to legend status, while modern greats Nick Riewoldt and Luke Hodge were also inducted. Darley joined Tasmania's John Leedham and George Owens from WA as this year's historical inductees. There was a sense of sliding doors for Riewoldt and Lyon. Riewoldt was living on the Gold Coast when he was drafted to St Kilda. Another 26km closer to Brisbane, he would have been in the Lions' recruiting zone at the time. Lyon's father Peter played for Hawthorn, but not nearly enough to earn a father-son selection. Lyon never made a grand final at Melbourne and noted his career coincided with four Hawthorn premierships. "I haven't thought about it much," Lyon deadpanned, while also noting he had a "wonderful, wonderful time" at the Demons.

Perth Now

2 hours ago

Perth Now

'Quite happily' - inductee played hard off the field

Imagine the reaction if Max Gawn was serving an AFL suspension and spent the new few days on a trip to Lord's to watch the World Test Championship. Australian Football Hall Of Fame inductee Peter Darley freely admits he wouldn't make it as a player now. Darley gave one of the all-time acceptance speeches at Tuesday night's annual induction dinner. While at times his comments drew an uncomfortable gasp from the audience at the Melbourne black tie function, he was the hit of the evening. His best among several memorable anecdotes was being suspended in 1972 while starring as a ruckman for SANFL side South Adelaide. He was also working in sales for the then-national airline TAA and that gave him first-class international plane tickets. So without his coach knowing, Darley flew to London to watch an Ashes Test. He was at Lord's when Australian bowler Bob Massie took 16 wickets on debut. He celebrated hard on the flight home, but soon after his return had to play Glenelg. "I must have turned on the gas and we went past Glenelg, but after three-quarter time I'd run out of gas and I called the bloody stretcher," he said. "Halfway off the ground the stretcher broke and I had to get up and walk off. "Football was something I did on a Saturday and fortunately I was able to get away with it. I wouldn't today, I tell you." Darley starred in South's most recent premiership, way back in 1964, under legendary coach Neil Kerley. "He had us running through sand hills and I said 'well, that's where I used to take my girlfriends'," Darley said. "He taught (us) how to play as a team, not only on the football field, but he also offered us the opportunity to play off the football field - which I took up quite readily and happily." In paying tribute to his fellow inductees, Melbourne great Garry Lyon was particularly taken with Darley. "I'd be happy to go on a footy trip with Peter Darley - I don't know who you are, Pete, but I like the sound of you,," Lyon said. While Darley and Lyon drew the laughs, AFLW greats Erin Phillips and Daisy Pearce brought the emotion with their acceptance speeches. They joined trailblazer Debbie Lee as the only women in the hall of fame. Phillips and Pearce paid tribute to Lee, while Phillips and her father Greg provided the highlight of the night. They are the first father and daughter to be hall of fame members, with Greg already inducted for his stellar playing career at Port Adelaide and Collingwood. "To Dad, I can't imagine how hard it would have been to tell your 13-year-old daughter that she couldn't play the game she loves any more," Phillips said, her voice breaking. "And 27 years later, she's standing next to you in the Hall of Fame." South Australian goalkicking machine Ken Farmer was elevated to legend status, while modern greats Nick Riewoldt and Luke Hodge were also inducted. Darley joined Tasmania's John Leedham and George Owens from WA as this year's historical inductees. There was a sense of sliding doors for Riewoldt and Lyon. Riewoldt was living on the Gold Coast when he was drafted to St Kilda. Another 26km closer to Brisbane, he would have been in the Lions' recruiting zone at the time. Lyon's father Peter played for Hawthorn, but not nearly enough to earn a father-son selection. Lyon never made a grand final at Melbourne and noted his career coincided with four Hawthorn premierships. "I haven't thought about it much," Lyon deadpanned, while also noting he had a "wonderful, wonderful time" at the Demons.

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For 50 years, Alan Adler had one job – to keep Melbourne's analogue photo booths alive

'Quite happily' - inductee played hard off the field

'Quite happily' - inductee played hard off the field

AFL Round 13 Wrap – Pies win Thriller, GWS fail & are Crows Contenders?

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For 50 years, Alan Adler had one job – to keep Melbourne's analogue photo booths alive

'Quite happily' - inductee played hard off the field

'Quite happily' - inductee played hard off the field

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