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Art Review: Strike A Quick Pose!

Lamphouse Photo Co.

Credit Lamp house Photo Co.

Some of my most treasured photographs come from two local photo booths: Lamphouse Photo Co. and Linnebur & Miller. These are two distinctly different operations, but both provide unconventional experiences for truly remarkable photographs.

The first time I saw Lamphouse Photo Company in action, owners and photographers Katherine and Conan Fugit were debuting their mobile photo studio and darkroom at The Labor Party in Old Town. The Lampy Camper - or Lampy Campy as I like to call it - seats two people in an intimate portrait studio. The pictures are taken with a vintage camera, then passed to the darkroom where two beautiful black-and-white prints are made the old-fashioned way.

Since then, they have added the Birdie Booth - an automated digital photo booth with unique, meticulously sourced props used for striking wacky, spontaneous poses with friends and family. It’s great fun.

Credit Courtesy Photo
Credit Linnebur & Miller

Linnebur & Miller is a performance art duo that incorporates photo booths as part of their larger artistic practice. They create themed photo booths and never do the same theme twice. They create hand-made backdrop according to the theme and bring an elaborate selection of costuming and props.

What Linnebur & Miller provide is a transformative experience. They dress you, pose you, give you props and carefully craft the image. It’s actually more like a photo shoot. Everything is tailored to the individual and each photo truly unique. Their photo booths are always a limited opportunity where nothing is duplicated. But the results are nothing short of fantastical.