THERE’S a digital craze that’s sweeping the globe, but Dion Howard’s going back to the old ways.
He used to make his money as a wedding photographer, but deciding that the market was saturated – “there were 117 people offering wedding photography services” - and that he didn’t feel he was very good, he looked for other ways to earn a coin.
So he got a friend to craft a nostalgic photobooth, like the ones that the baby boomers might remember at Wellington Railway Station. It’s made out of old oak bookcases and headboards, in a nod to his dad - a cabinet maker - and his passion of photography. He’s called his creation The Amazing Travelling Photobooth, which folds up to fit into the boot of a small car.
“I wanted to re-engage people with the experience of having their photograph taken. It’s almost like the opposite of digital: I wanted it to be real,” says Howard.
“With digital photography, the ease of taking and keeping photographs is almost without value. Photography is intrusive and in your face and has become positively irritating but this turns it into an occasion. And there’s a print that you can take away.”
Well it’s certainly taken off, if popularity’s anything to go by. The photo booth’s been a regular at parties around the city, including at the recent Wellingtonista awards and there’s never any shortage of people who want to use it. Down to the guy who “got out his wanger at a party a couple of weeks ago”.
“That seems strange to me. Someone else still possesses a copy of that.”
But the most heartwarming time was the party that a seven-child family attended, out together for the first time in seven years.
“They got very excited about being able to have their photo taken and take it away immediately. I love that sort of stuff.”
Howard’s been going for just under a year. He started up in the New Year, after the Christmas party and function rush, but he’s just in the middle of his busy season right now and averages about three bookings a week.
“It’s amazing,” Howard says, when asked of people’s most popular comments. “Really. That’s what they say. Because the booth has been constructed out of oak. Everything today is made out of plastic and metal but...I think people really appreciate that some effort has gone into creating something genuine.”
He’s now added two more “amazing travelling photobooths” to his collection – one in Auckland and one in Queenstown – which he gets “charming, talented photobooth hosts” to run – usually drama students because they’re such good people people.
And, as if Howard needs any other pursuits to add to his casual work as a photographer, event manager, and band and concert manager, he’s also a part-time psychiatric nurse.
“I have, sort of, a career ADD syndrome.”