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CNN Live At Daybreak

Photo Booth Tradition Fading Like an Old Photograph

Aired November 18, 2002 - 05:50   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Who can forget cramming into a booth, pulling the curtain, making a face and waiting for the flash? You've done it, right?
But Jeanne Moos tells us the photo booth is a tradition that's fading just like an old photograph.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When this curtain opens...

(on camera): No drinking in a photo booth.

(voice-over): You are the star. Don't kiss it good-bye yet. The photo booth, with its black and white strip photos, may have dwindled in number...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my god.

MOOS: ... to less than 2,000 left in the U.S., but it's celebrated in two new books, one featuring vintage photos of ordinary people, the other showcasing stars ranging from Madonna to Mariah.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.

MOOS: The pictures come from MTV's "Photobooth." Celebs waiting in the green room stop by and take photos on their way to appear on MTV shows. Celebs like Celine Dion act just as silly as regular folks.

QUDDUS, MTV VJ: There's something about being in a confined space alone that kind of lets people be really uninhibited, you know, and let them freak out, if you will.

MOOS: Even take off their clothes, stick out their tongue.

(on camera): The photo booth doesn't lie.

BABBETTE HINES, AUTHOR, "PHOTOBOOTH": That's the problem, isn't it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's do a profile.

MOOS (voice-over): Babbette Hines collects old photo booth photos, buying them at flea markets, and now she's published a book.

HINES: That's my mom.

MOOS (on camera): Wow.

HINES: She's like six.

MOOS (voice-over): But most of the people in the photos are a mystery to her.

HINES: See, this is the thing, I spend all of my time imagining, completely, I'm sure, inaccurate stories.

MOOS: Like the one about the handsome soldier.

HINES: He's this murky, I know I'm really hot, and I'm going off to war. So do you want to have sex with me?

MOOS: Babbette's book launch arty was held at New York's Lakeside Lounge, picked because it has a photo booth. You sit down with a total stranger...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning, hey.

MOOS: ... and you come out looking like old friends.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like I like a girl a lot, I take her here. They all probably think like they're the one girl I took in there, but, you know, I actually have a small collection.

MOOS: Photomoton, as it was called, was patented in 1925 by a Siberian immigrant.

HINES: He got the money together, he built it and he sold it for a million dollars.

MOOS (on camera): And that time...

HINES: Humongous.

MOOS: Boy, your curtain is so much nicer.

(voice-over): Leave it to stars to wear sunglasses in the MTV photo booth. Our favorite photos, right below Eminem, were of Janet Reno.

QUDDUS: Where else are you going to see Janet Reno throwing up the peace sign like she did?

MOOS (on camera): Except that's not what it looks like at first.

QUDDUS: Yes, yes. You've got to look real, real close and see the other finger in there.

MOOS (voice-over): There's even a French film, "Amalie," that revolves around photo booths and features talking photos.

(CLIP FROM "AMALIE") UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Me and Lisa met in that photo booth. We live together now.

MOOS (on camera): Really?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With Kenny.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With Kenny.

MOOS (voice-over): In a photo booth, three is not a crowd, it's a photographic memory.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired November 18, 2002 - 05:50   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Who can forget cramming into a booth, pulling the curtain, making a face and waiting for the flash? You've done it, right?
But Jeanne Moos tells us the photo booth is a tradition that's fading just like an old photograph.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When this curtain opens...

(on camera): No drinking in a photo booth.

(voice-over): You are the star. Don't kiss it good-bye yet. The photo booth, with its black and white strip photos, may have dwindled in number...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my god.

MOOS: ... to less than 2,000 left in the U.S., but it's celebrated in two new books, one featuring vintage photos of ordinary people, the other showcasing stars ranging from Madonna to Mariah.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.

MOOS: The pictures come from MTV's "Photobooth." Celebs waiting in the green room stop by and take photos on their way to appear on MTV shows. Celebs like Celine Dion act just as silly as regular folks.

QUDDUS, MTV VJ: There's something about being in a confined space alone that kind of lets people be really uninhibited, you know, and let them freak out, if you will.

MOOS: Even take off their clothes, stick out their tongue.

(on camera): The photo booth doesn't lie.

BABBETTE HINES, AUTHOR, "PHOTOBOOTH": That's the problem, isn't it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's do a profile.

MOOS (voice-over): Babbette Hines collects old photo booth photos, buying them at flea markets, and now she's published a book.

HINES: That's my mom.

MOOS (on camera): Wow.

HINES: She's like six.

MOOS (voice-over): But most of the people in the photos are a mystery to her.

HINES: See, this is the thing, I spend all of my time imagining, completely, I'm sure, inaccurate stories.

MOOS: Like the one about the handsome soldier.

HINES: He's this murky, I know I'm really hot, and I'm going off to war. So do you want to have sex with me?

MOOS: Babbette's book launch arty was held at New York's Lakeside Lounge, picked because it has a photo booth. You sit down with a total stranger...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning, hey.

MOOS: ... and you come out looking like old friends.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like I like a girl a lot, I take her here. They all probably think like they're the one girl I took in there, but, you know, I actually have a small collection.

MOOS: Photomoton, as it was called, was patented in 1925 by a Siberian immigrant.

HINES: He got the money together, he built it and he sold it for a million dollars.

MOOS (on camera): And that time...

HINES: Humongous.

MOOS: Boy, your curtain is so much nicer.

(voice-over): Leave it to stars to wear sunglasses in the MTV photo booth. Our favorite photos, right below Eminem, were of Janet Reno.

QUDDUS: Where else are you going to see Janet Reno throwing up the peace sign like she did?

MOOS (on camera): Except that's not what it looks like at first.

QUDDUS: Yes, yes. You've got to look real, real close and see the other finger in there.

MOOS (voice-over): There's even a French film, "Amalie," that revolves around photo booths and features talking photos.

(CLIP FROM "AMALIE") UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Me and Lisa met in that photo booth. We live together now.

MOOS (on camera): Really?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With Kenny.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With Kenny.

MOOS (voice-over): In a photo booth, three is not a crowd, it's a photographic memory.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com