the emotions photobooth
élodie thelliez
2023
installation / photobooth / projection
introduction
The emotions photobooth is a two-part emotional installation experience, composed of a photobooth and projection element. Audience members explore a room whose walls hold a projected grid of faces expressing a range of emotions, and are then invited to sit in the photobooth in the center of the space to add their own experience to the matrix of faces outside.
timeline
the vision
I created the emotions photobooth as a medium to explore visible human emotion as something that is not only private, but can be shared and authentic in its publicity.
The booth exists in antithesis to the emotional manipulation and masking that characterizes most interactions on social platforms, or even in day to day life. The installation provides a space for viewers to express their true feelings and to share this experience with a community of strangers.
the experience [design]
Incorporating the feedback from 16 weeks of surveys and interviews, I created the prompting process that the visitors will interact with inside the photobooth. This is hosted in a webpage, and programmed using HTML, CSS, and Javascript. A person who goes into the booth will be guided through a series of linked pages that:
Explain the project
Help them get comfortable in the space, and reflect on their feelings
Ask them how they are feeling
Guide them to capture this emotion in a video less than 20 seconds
Asked for consent to share
And thanked for their time.
The capture page itself relies on an API called WebRTC MediaRecorder, that allows for use and manipulation of webcam input. Using this API I created an interaction where the visitor can start and stop a video, then save it
the grid
The projection component of the installation is a grid of looping black and white portrait videos, powered by Javascript. This web-based grid is fed by a folder of videos that is populated by the captures from the photobooth. In each video slot, the code cycles through videos/faces in the folder in a random order after random amounts of time.
Capturing and displaying videos instead of a typical photobooth photo allowed me to create a more dynamic and human grid of faces. The movement helps to show more life and emotion than a still image could ever capture.
building
The photobooth is made of a PVC pipe frame and black curtains, built and improved upon across the project timeline. This build was intended to be sturdy and private, yet modular and moveable for installation purposes.
The inside of the booth consists of a seat, mouse stand, mouse, webcam, lighting, and monitor that the visitors interact with. Behind a curtain there is a laptop powering both the front-facing prompt program flow and the page holding the grid that is connected to the projectors.
completion
a special thank you to:
brad gallagher, thierry thelliez, annie margaret, cheryl bell, liz marvin, justin gitlin, peter rosenthal, kevin hoth, anna lowrimore, solenne thelliez, samia juras, stephanie wanek, and all participants of the installation
without whom the emotions photobooth would not exist.