Tag Archives: automatica

Pausing At The Foto Automatica

This photograph of people pausing at the Foto Automatica in Florence took me back to a previous visit to this city. On that earlier trip we were barely there, stopping only briefly between time in Chianti and our flight home. We stayed in a hotel a few steps from this old-school photo booth, and I was surprised at its popularity. Even in an age of hand-held selfie cameras there seems to be something special about crowding into this little old-school booth.

I photographed it on that first visit, and I photographed it again when we spent a longer time in Florence, this time long enough to explore the place more extensively. We did not stay in the same hotel, but we walked past one day — and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Foto Automatica was still there, in its odd little corner along the narrow street. As I watched a (family?) group paused to make pictures.


G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Foto Automatica

Foto Automatica
A sidewalk “foto automatica” booth in Florence, Italy

Foto Automatica. Florence/Firenze, Italy. August 28, 2016. © Copyright 2016 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A sidewalk “foto automatica” booth in Florence, Italy

The “foto automatica” (sometimes called a “photo booth” in America) is rapidly becoming a dated thing. Now that everyone carries a smart phone with its built-in camera, every place can be a photo booth. Years ago these were more common — both for simply getting a picture (or several) of yourself and for collecting a group of friends to share the cost and then mugging for the camera.

I don’t see many of these today, but there are a few still around. This one near our hotel in Florence was very popular. This photograph is a bit misleading — on virtually every other occasion when I passed by there were groups of people inside and outside. I suspect that part of the fun is that it produce something that we don’t see so much today, namely snapshots printed on paper.


G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.