Inside the booth
Contact sheet or photo strip?
Two ways to arrange photographs, and one important historical difference.
A strip encourages a top-to-bottom reading. A grid lets the eye compare images across rows. They may contain the same pictures, but arrangement changes the experience.
The photographic contact sheet
Traditionally, a contact sheet is made by placing negatives against photographic paper and exposing them together. It helps a photographer inspect and select frames. The V&A’s account of Lewis Morley’s 1963 Christine Keeler session includes a contact sheet and the photographer’s discussion of choosing a frame.
Evidence: Museum research
The booth strip
An automatic booth strip is the output of a timed portrait session, rather than necessarily a proof of a separate roll of negatives. Different machines use different processes. A narrow layout alone does not identify how the photographs were made.
Evidence: Restorer documentation
What the name means in Flashroom
Our app offers a vertical strip and a digital two-by-two contact-sheet layout. The latter describes the arrangement, not a chemical printing method. Choose the strip when you want a sequence, and the grid when comparing expressions matters more. Before printing, preview how both layouts use the paper: cropping a grid into a narrow strip can remove faces rather than rearrange them.
Sources & further reading
Sources for the specific facts and product descriptions above. Our worked examples, interpretations and practical suggestions are original editorial guidance.
- Victoria and Albert Museum — Lewis Morley’s contact sheetMuseum research
- AUTOFOTO — How it worksRestorer documentation