‘Auto-Photo: A Life in Portraits,’ co-published by the Centre for Contemporary Photography and Perimeter Books, is an invitation into the unseen world of Alan Adler, a 91-year-old photobooth technician. Through the lens of Adler’s test-strips, we witness life unfold in fragments of time – an incidental archive created through 50 years of dedication.

 

Accompanied by the insightful research essays of Patrick Pound, Catlin Langford and Daniel Boetker-Smith on the history of the photobooth and its legacy discussed on an interview round table with Alan and new owners Jessie Norman and Christopher Sutherland – I found myself enthralled with the artform and significance of the apparatus.

 

With sixteen photobooths around Melbourne, Adler would take a test-strip each maintenance check of his photobooths. This amassed an archive of thousands of images, inadvertedly making Adler one of the most photographed people in Australia. Born out of technical necessity, the photographs now transcend their original intent into an artful depiction of life.

 

The tactility of the book with its beautiful paper stock and size that mirrors a photo-strip, creates an unexpected intimacy.  Alongside the photobooth’s history – this book holds the feeling of the machinery. The imperfections – chemical marks, light leaks and aging film, make the final copy.

 

Operating the family business for 50 years, Adler’s test-strips begin in the 1970s and end in the 2010s. Full page portraits alternate with test-strips, his expressions consistently delightful and playful throughout his career. We catch glimmers of his world outside the booth – his wife, Lorraine, their children, pets, and yet the backdrop of each image offers so little. It is Adler’s face that tells the story, offering everything.

 

‘Auto-Photo: A Life in Portraits’ is a treasure for the collection of any art and photography enthusiast, or just simply as a Melbournian. It will stir something deep inside of you – a book depicting a lifetime. The legacy of the family business lives on through Jessie Norman and Christopher Sutherland – who are wholeheartedly committed to preserving and maintaining the iconic Melbourne photobooth for generations to come.