History
Search an art archive for photobooth pictures
A controlled vocabulary can reveal records a single spelling misses.
Archive searches do not always use the same words as an app listing or everyday conversation. Try several relevant terms and return to the item record before deciding what a result depicts.
Use the documented vocabulary
Getty’s Art & Architecture Thesaurus includes photobooth pictures as a concept and lists terms such as photobooth portraits and photographic strips, photobooth. Its definition refers to photographs made in small automated enclosures. It is a classification aid, not a live map of machines.
Evidence: Controlled vocabulary
Search language and format separately
Our search sheet tries photobooth, photo booth, Photomaton and an artist’s name, then checks whether the record identifies an automated booth, an arcade portrait or a different photographic object. Record the terms used so another researcher can repeat the route. A search result containing the word photo does not establish the production method.
Keep a deduplicated list
Save institution, item reference and permanent URL. A translated page or another reproduction of the same object is not automatically a second photograph. Keep uncertain results on a separate list until their record supports the classification. This makes a modest archive search more useful than a large unverified pile of thumbnails.
Sources & further reading
Sources for the specific facts and product descriptions above. Our worked examples, interpretations and practical suggestions are original editorial guidance.
- Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus — photobooth picturesControlled vocabulary