Bringing the photobooth images created yesteryear right up to date, one company will bring the experience to your event in Cyprus. ALIX NORMAN meets them
The inside of my fridge is usually akin to Mother Hubbard’s cupboard. But while the shelves may be bare, the outside is festooned with magnets, memos and postcards (people do still send them!). And in pride of place on the door is the black and white photostrip of my sister and me, taken 20 years ago at Heathrow airport. We’re pulling faces, grinning like asylum escapees and having a whale of a time, knowing that we wouldn’t meet again for quite some time (Key West and Nicosia not being on the same bus route). In actual fact, it was over five years before we both managed to coincide our funds and schedules, and for those 1,824 days (and ever since) that five minutes in a photobooth at Heathrow cheered me up every time I’ve opened my fridge.
Such is the influence of a photo, that they’re now recognised as the primary form of social media: facebook, instagram, pinterest, tumblr – they’re all based on the power of image. If you want to capture a memory, recall the emotions, relive the moment, then nothing is going to conjure up that instant faster than a snapshot or two. Which is why, in my humble opinion, the latest venture to hit the shores of Cyprus is bound to be a surefire success.
Photobooth CY is a far cry in terms of technology from that modest cubicle in the Deaprture Lounge 20 odd years ago: it’s a state-of-the-art, digitally driven, endlessly customisable photobooth that you can rent out for events. But what it offers is fundamentally the same thing: a permanent remembrance of good times past. You may already have come across the enterprise because it’s taking off faster than you can say ‘smile please’; even if you haven’t attended an event where an actual Photobooth was present, someone you know has – and if they haven’t already, then they’re uploading their shots to facebook as you read this.
But, unlike the photos, the process of getting the Photobooth to Cyprus wasn’t instant. “I was at a wedding in Greece when I first came across the idea,” says Kyriacos Ashikalis who, along with partner Lefkos Kallenos, is co-owner of Photobooth CY. “There was a lot of excitement around the booth, guests were obviously very into the idea, and so I gave it a go. It was great fun, magical. But the after-effect was even better: when I woke the next morning and saw the pictures, it was an instant reminder of a great night.”
Alexis immediately realised that Cyprus was missing out, and seizing on the idea, decided to start up a similar venture on the island and see where it led. After sourcing the best equipment available, and constructing a detailed website, Photbooth CY launched in July 2012, available for hire at all sorts of different events, from corporate parties to weddings, christenings and even private parties for hosts who really want to make an impact. “We wanted to catch the summer season,” Alexis explains, “and the first booking was for an Absolut Vodka event at Guaba. Everyone at the event loved the idea, crowding into the booth in their swimsuits to take fun snaps with their friends, and we realised we had a huge success on our hands!”
With unlimited photos, customisable backgrounds, headers and footers and an instant take-home copy of the moment, Photobooth is “ideal for corporate events,” says Alexis. “But,” he adds, “where it’s really taken off is in the wedding business! Whenever we take the booth to a wedding, it’s a hit.” Photobooth creates two photostrips at the same time: one to keep and one which can instantly be stuck in the happy couple’s Memory Book, next to a written message; an excellent way of not only reliving the fun of the moment but also of keeping track of exactly who your guests are (crucial when you’re obliged to invite distant cousins of your dentist to the celebration, one suspects!).
“Unlike many wedding photographers, Photobooth provides the couple with a disc of unlimited high resolution digital images of every photo taken that night, and a take-home memory of the happy event is far more permanent wedding favour than the usual loukoumi!” Alexis suggests, adding that there’s also the option of creating a private online gallery for guests to visit in the ensuing weeks, as well as a video option which compiles 30-second messages from the guests to the bride and groom. “And there’s even a direct link from the booth to facebook, so guests can choose to upload the photos straight to their page during the actual event!”
With three booths currently in operation around the island, business has been so brisk that a fourth will shortly be up and running, ready for the summer wedding circuit. “We’ve been booked solid since we began,” says Alexis with a grin. “People can’t get enough of the idea. Although photobooths are common at events in the States, in Dubai and across Europe, we were the first people to bring this state-of-the-art technology to Cyprus. Everyone loves the magic that happens when the curtain closes and you’re free to express yourself!”
It turns out that the problem isn’t getting people into the booth – it’s getting them out, especially when a selection of amusing props are on offer for guests to use in the photos. “There are always huge queues,” says Alexis. “And we have had to discreetly remove the odd couple who get a little carried away behind the curtain,” he says!
With any number of events filling the calendar, anyone looking for all the fun of the Photobooth better book quickly. “Once you’ve tried it, you realise the magic,” Alexis concludes. I think back to the monochrome photostrip on my fridge and smile. In the last few years, skype and facebook may have enabled my sister and me to communicate on a regular basis. But no online conversation, emailed photos or instant messages have managed to conjure up that happy moment like my own photobooth memory. Twenty years from now, I’ll probably have forgotten I even have those countless digital images stored somewhere on my hard drive. But I’ll still be smiling at my fridge every time I pass.
For more information visit thephotobooth.com.cy or www.facebook.com/thePhotoboothCy or call 7000 55 99