Anatol Josepho

Anatol Josepho inside his photo booth.

Anatol M. Josepho (March 31, 1894 - December 1980), born Anatol Josephewitz, was a Siberian^[1] immigrant to the United States of America from Omsk, Russia, who invented and patented the first automated photo booth in 1925, which was named the "Photomaton". In 1927, he was paid one million dollars for the invention.^[2][3]

Camp Josepho, a 110 acre property, which stretches from Mandeville Canyon to Will Rogers State Park, was given to the Boy Scouts of the Crescent Bay Council on July 7, 1941 by Anatol Josepho ^[4] Sixty-five years later, Camp Josepho under the Western Los Angeles County Council (WLACC) continues to fulfill its mission of serving youth throughout Los Angeles, with a unique emphasis on filmmaking, shooting sports, and computer programming. Remnants of what once was Josepho's personal mansion can be found between the camp and Murphy Ranch.

Early life

Josepho's father was a wealthy jeweler and his mother died when he was three years old. He developed a close bond with his father and became interested in the Wild West cultural phenomenon of expansion in the United States in the late 1800s. He began taking photographs with a Brownie camera produced by the Eastman Kodak Company during his childhood and he attended a local technical institute to pursue his growing interest in photography in 1909 at the age of 15.^[5]

The Photomaton

Josepho's invention of the photo booth, known as the "Photomaton", debuted in September 1925 at 1659 Broadway Street in Manhattan, located in the heart of New York City. The Photomaton charged twenty-five cents for a strip of eight photos that were developed in eight minutes. White-gloved attendants stayed by the machine during hours of operation to control the crowds as well as to provide maintenance for the machine.^[6]

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