About us
We keep the magic of analogue photobooth’s alive for generations to come.
our story
Metro Auto Photo is run by Chris and Jessie, who helped save the iconic Flinders Street photobooth from closure in 2018. What started as a chance moment - a first date, a strip of photos, and a handwritten note left inside the machine - became the beginning of a long relationship with the man who ran Melbourne’s booths for over 50 years: Alan Adler.
Alan was known as “the most photographed man in Australia,” having taken thousands of test strips while maintaining his machines. Stoic, solitary and incredibly dedicated, he kept these booths alive long before Flinders St Photobooth became the tourist destination it is now.
Before he passed in 2024, Alan entrusted his photobooths to Chris and Jessie. Metro Auto Photo is the continuation of that legacy: a promise to keep these machines running, to honour their history, and to make sure analogue photobooths remain part of Melbourne’s experience.
Metro Auto Photo is Chris & Jessie’s love letter to Melbourne.
A Special Edition
Co-published by Perimeter Editions and the Centre for Contemporary Photography, Auto-Photo: A Life in Portraits tells the story of Alan Adler, a man who is likely the most photographed person in Australia, and is also perhaps the oldest and longest-serving photobooth technician in the world.
Why It Matters
For more than fifty years, Alan Adler quietly tended to Melbourne’s photobooths - maintaining them with a precision and dedication that turned a simple trade into a lifelong craft. Every week, at each of his 16 booths, he would finish his maintenance run by sitting inside and taking a test strip to check the light, focus and chemistry. Over decades, those test strips became an extraordinary archive: thousands upon thousands of portraits, each marking the passing of time.
Unintentionally, Alan became “the most photographed man in Australia” — a humble technician whose unseen work shaped Melbourne’s cultural identity and preserved the ritual of stepping into a booth for generations.
An iconic Melbourne Story
Alan’s work lives far beyond the machines he maintained. It lives on fridges, in scrapbooks, inside wallets, on bedroom walls, and in the pockets of travellers who made his booth their must do stop in Melbourne. Through Metro Auto Photo, his tradition continues - shared by locals, visitors, couples, friends, families and anyone who wants a tangible memory in a digital world.
The Shop
From everyday totes to the Auto-Photo book documenting Alan Adler’s remarkable archive, our merch collection celebrates the people and history behind Melbourne’s real photobooths.
