A century after the world’s first automated photobooth drew crowds in New York, that same mechanical magic is quietly humming away in Lakes Entrance.
Inside The Servo, the Foto-Mate analogue photobooth has become one of the town’s most distinctive summer attractions. Since its launch on Boxing Day, the booth has produced nearly 1,500 black-and-white photo strips, each chemically developed inside the machine using traditional silver-halide photographic paper.
Unlike digital alternatives, the booth relies on an intricate electromechanical process: gears, switches, motors and chemicals work together to produce a one-of-a-kind photo strip in just four frames, using the same technique employed 100 years ago.
A Seaside Tradition Reimagined
Photobooths have long been linked to holiday culture, offering families and couples a keepsake from their time away. For Lakes Entrance local Renae Jones, bringing that tradition home felt natural.
“Seaside towns overseas have always had photobooths – they’re part of holiday nostalgia,” Jones said.
“We wanted Lakes to have something iconic too, something visitors can keep on their fridge or pin board and remember their summer holiday. Heaps of locals have been using it too, creating a permanent memory of the summer.”
Her partner, Lance Weeks, is a specialist in restoring rare analogue booths in Melbourne and internationally. He sourced rare components during the 2025 centenary of the photobooth in New York to support the Lakes Entrance installation.
“Alan Adler, who operated Melbourne’s historic machines for 50 years, taught me the importance of maintenance and how each machine develops its own character,” Weeks said.
“A quality analogue strip far surpasses digital alternatives, and the public agrees.”
Weeks plans to enhance the Lakes Entrance booth with a nostalgic period TV so visitors can watch their strip being processed, highlighting why the four-minute process is part of the experience.
Built in East Gippsland
The booth is also a local creation. Components were restored and fabricated using trades and workshops in Bairnsdale, Lakes Entrance, and Maffra, blending vintage design with regional engineering skill.
Dave Jones, a local ambulance manager, returned to hands-on fabrication from a previous engineering career to assist. “These aren’t plug-and-play machines,” he said. “They run off a few microswitches and three relays. It’s mechanical, chemical, and precise, and it’s been rebuilt using Gippsland skill.”
Mechanical parts unavailable for 40 years were re-engineered locally, providing a unique point of difference for the town in a growing experience-driven tourism market. The machine is believed to be the only operating rural analogue photobooth in the southern hemisphere.
A Natural Fit for The Servo
For Mick Haber, manager of The Servo, the booth has added something special to the venue.
“It creates a moment,” he said.
“Families squeeze in together, couples laugh, groups pile in before a night out. It’s not just a photo – it’s an experience. Being analogue, it’s one of one, the only copy you’ll get. It’s honest, genuine, and lasts a lifetime.”
How It Works
Each session takes around five minutes. The machine captures four photos, feeding the paper strip through 14 chemical tanks to produce a permanent black-and-white strip. There are no digital backups – what you get is the only copy, giving it tangible and lasting value in a digital age.
A Century of Photobooths
The first commercial photobooth was introduced in 1925 by Anatol Josepho in New York. By mid-century, booths were common in railway stations, shopping arcades, and seaside towns worldwide, providing more than identification – they captured joy, reunions, and creative moments.
While digital kiosks have replaced many originals, a small number of analogue machines survive, maintained by dedicated operators preserving the chemical process that makes them unique.
In Lakes Entrance, a century-old piece of technology is proving that innovation doesn’t always mean digital. Sometimes, it means preserving the past and giving it new life by the sea.
