The Self-Portrait Project

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Featured: Sundance Film Festival

🎥: @gracie_gk Free portraits today til 6pm at our 🎥: @gracie_gk 
Free portraits today til 6pm at our LES studio at 137 Rivington St. Appointments are still available this coming week at the link in our bio. We’d love to see you!
#selfportraitproject #participatoryart #portraitphotography #freenyc #thingstodonyc
The Pop-Up Portrait Studio is back! Our doors will The Pop-Up Portrait Studio is back! Our doors will be open from Friday, May 15 until Thursday, May 21 at 137 Rivington St on the Lower East Side NYC. 
 
We’ll be offering appointments during the weekdays, and free walk-in portraits from 1-6 pm on Saturday, May 16 and Sunday, May 17. 

To book an appointment, check the link in our bio. 

We’re looking forward to seeing you.

🎥: @piercebartman & @gracie_gk 

#popupportraitstudio #freenyc #selfportraitproject #participatoryart #photoboothfun
Last day for this month’s Pop-Up Portrait Studio! Last day for this month’s Pop-Up Portrait Studio! We’ll be taking walk-ins from 3:30-6 pm, then starting  at 7 we’ll be having a closing party at the space. PLEASE NOTE: We won’t be set up for photos during the closing party. We’d love to see you!
#popup #freenyc #selfportraitproject #participatoryart #nyc
An overview of our pop-up experience courtesy of @ An overview of our pop-up experience courtesy of @piercebartman 
The last days for this activation are today, tomorrow, and Thursday — appointments are all booked up, but we’re taking walk-ins from 3:30-6:00 every day. 

#selfportraitproject #participatoryart #photoboothfun #freenyc
🎥: @gracie_gk Our Pop-Up Portrait studio is live 🎥: @gracie_gk 
Our Pop-Up Portrait studio is live now until end-of-day Thursday, April 16. Come through for a walk-in any time between 3:30-6:00pm. We’d love to see you!

#freenyc #selfportraitproject #portraitphotography #participatoryart
Selects from the Pop-Up Portrait Studio’s first da Selects from the Pop-Up Portrait Studio’s first day. Appointment slots are fully booked but we are taking walk-ins from 3:30-6:00 every day through end-of-day on Thursday, April 16. We’d love to see you!

#freenyc #popup #newyorkcity #selfportraitproject #portraitphotography
We’re kicking off our pop-up tonight with an openi We’re kicking off our pop-up tonight with an opening party from 7-10 pm @ 137 Rivington St on the LES in NY, and all are welcome (RSVP in bio). The pop-up officially starts tomorrow and goes until end-of-day next Thursday, April 16. Appointments are currently totally booked, but we are taking walk-ins every day from 3:30-6:00 pm. We’d love to see you! 
#selfportraitproject #popup #freenyc #photoboothnyc #freeeventsnyc
🎥: @gracie_gk We’re thrilled to announce the retu 🎥: @gracie_gk 
We’re thrilled to announce the return of our Pop-Up Portrait Studio for one week, starting this Friday, April 10 through end-of-day Thursday, April 16.

Last August, we opened our pop-up doors to New Yorkers, with 1,250 people taking over 36,000 self-portraits in our Lower East Side studio. 

This time around, in response to the overwhelming turnout, we’re offering a limited number of paid appointments alongside free walk-in sessions for the same high-quality black & white portraits.

APPOINTMENTS (1–3 PM)
15-minute sessions — $25 per time slot (not per person)

Includes:
• One 6×8” print
• Digital images

Take as many portraits as you like, but we encourage quality over quantity.
Arrive 10–15 minutes early.
Late arrivals lose time and may forfeit their session.
Groups are welcome, as long as your session stays within the allotted time.
24+ hours’ notice required for a full refund.
Same-day bookings are nonrefundable.

WALK-INS (3:30–6 PM)
Free — digital images only
6×8” prints available for $10
Line opens before 3:30 PM
We admit guests until 6 PM
Anyone in line at 6 PM will be admitted
No new guests after 6 PM

We’re looking forward to seeing you.

POP-UP PORTRAIT STUDIO
137 Rivington St, New York, NY 10002

Reserve a slot at the link in our bio

#selfportraitproject #freenyc #photobooth #popupnyc
From Sundance to Century City, Oscar-winner Self-P From Sundance to Century City, Oscar-winner Self-Portraits over the years:

1. Ellen Burstyn — Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore — Best Actress — 1975
2. Robert Redford — Ordinary People — Best Director — 1981
3. Geena Davis — The Accidental Tourist — Best Supporting Actress — 1989
4. Hilary Swank — Boys Don’t Cry — Best Actress — 2000
5. Marcia Gay Harden — Pollock — Best Supporting Actress — 2001
6. Javier Bardem — No Country for Old Men — Best Supporting Actor — 2008
7. Octavia Spencer — The Help — Best Supporting Actress — 2012
8. Nat Faxon — The Descendants — Best Adapted Screenplay — 2012
9. Jim Rash — The Descendants — Best Adapted Screenplay — 2012
10. Casey Affleck — Manchester by the Sea — Best Actor — 2017
11. Allison Janney — I, Tonya — Best Supporting Actress — 2018
12. Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert — Everything Everywhere All at Once — Best Director — 2023

#SelfPortraitProject #Oscars #AcademyAwards #PortraitPhotography #ParticipatoryArt
Printing is *back* at the Common Mollies photo boo Printing is *back* at the Common Mollies photo booth! Just $5 for two identical, pocket-sized 3x4” prints. Dual memory preservation for under the cost of a cocktail (but also grab a cocktail).

#selfportraitproject #commonmollies #brooklyn #printing #photoboothfun
Today marks the 17th anniversary of the Self-Portr Today marks the 17th anniversary of the Self-Portrait Project. Which is just bonkers. When I reflect on the 17 years I’ve been implementing SPP, I don’t know where the time has gone, and perhaps that is precisely the point — the Self-Portrait Project has been in many ways an exercise in preservation of time, with each image representing a slice of someone’s life. An experience. A connection to oneself or others. And so the archive of 1.8+ million photos is not just a record of images, but becomes a vivid collection of human experience and community. 

So: endless gratitude to each and every one of you who has ever taken a moment to see and be seen in front of one of our mirrors; to the SPP team, who are now part of the DNA of the organization and drive the trajectory of the project; to our clients and partners and venues, without whom we would not find success. Thank you for trusting me to steward this project and this global catalog. It means the world to me. 

Much love,
Andy Lin

1-3. NYC Summer Streets; 2011
4. The Palms Dumpster Pool Parties | Long Island City, Queens; 2011
5. Kickstarter video; 2011
6. SPP mirror schematic
7. 80/20 extruded aluminum mirror; circa 2016
8. Times Square Artists Alliance activation; 2012
9. Haiti Self-Portrait Project | Camp Grace, Port-au-Prince; 2013
10. Haiti video 🎥: @priestfontaine ; 2013
11. Palestine Self-Portrait Project | Khirbet Susya; 2015
12. Palestine Self-Portrait Project | Jenin; 2015
13. Big Buck Hunter World Championship XII | Las Vegas, NV; 2019
14. Moving Self-Portrait; 2013
15. Wedding; 2013
16. Sundance Film Festival | Park City, UT; 2020
17. Salon mirror; 2023
18. Pop-Up Portrait Studio | New York, NY; 2025
19. BoothCamp Create keynote | Las Vegas, NV 2026
20. BoothCamp Create keynote | Las Vegas, NV 2026

#SelfPortraitProject #ParticipatoryArt #LivingArchive #PortraitOfHumanity #17YearsOfSPP
Happy 1-year anniversary to our friends at Skinny Happy 1-year anniversary to our friends at Skinny Dennis Nashville 🤠

In less than a year, our Majestic Photobooth x Self-Portrait Project collaboration at the bar has captured a whopping:

139,364 photos
17,253 sessions
14,143 unique participants

We’re honored to be part of the Skinny Dennis story in Nashville. Here’s to many more.

📸: All 1,909 portraits displayed here were contributed to our living, public archive in 2025 via a double opt-in, in-app consent process

#selfportraitproject #skinnydennis #majesticphotobooth #honkytonk #nashvillemusic
Cats of the Self-Portrait Project #bix #cats_of_in Cats of the Self-Portrait Project #bix #cats_of_instagram #carolynlindooling #lunarnewyear #selfportraitproject
📸: @_whosmikey_ The Self-Portrait Project’s own, 📸: @_whosmikey_ 

The Self-Portrait Project’s own, Andy Lin, has been invited to speak at this year’s “BoothCamp Create” event, which is being held on February 15-16th in Las Vegas, NV. This immersive, hands-on workshop is designed for ambitious professionals looking to master the latest technology, create cutting-edge activations, and develop high-impact sales strategies. 
 
Andy will address a room full of other “boothers” to talk about what makes SPP unique, and what is at the heart of our company ethos. Below you will find BoothCamp Create’s blurb to introduce Andy and SPP:

“Andy Lin is a trailblazing force at the intersection of photography, social impact, and immersive technology. Best known in the photo booth industry as the visionary behind The Self-Portrait Project (SPP), Andy’s early work with two-way mirror systems helped shift photo booths from passive capture devices into participatory, self-authored experiences — facilitating the capturing of moments with intentionality, autonomy, and emotional depth. His pioneering work in participant-led portraiture has been deployed at events around the world, from large-scale festivals to grassroots campaigns, and continues to influence how brands and causes connect with their audiences.
 
Outside the booth world, Andy is a multidisciplinary artist and storyteller whose work has appeared in major publications and galleries. He’s a committed advocate for using creative tools to elevate underrepresented voices, with projects spanning conflict zones, refugee camps, and social justice movements. Through his lens — whether literal or metaphorical — Andy builds platforms that invite people to reflect, connect, and express themselves authentically. His current work focuses on how these experiences can evolve into living, regenerative ecosystems—supporting workers, venues, communities, and the organizations that hold them over time, not just single events.
 
At BoothCamp Create, Andy will share his insights on building photo experiences that are not just interactive — but intentional, meaningful, and unforgettable.”

#andylin #boothcampcreate #selfportraitproject #spp #pbx
“Continue until you see yourself in the cruelest p “Continue until you see yourself in the cruelest person on Earth, in the child starving, in the political prisoner. Practice until you recognize yourself in everyone in the supermarket, on the street corner, in a concentration camp, on a leaf, in a dewdrop. Meditate until you see yourself in a speck of dust in a distant galaxy. See and listen with the whole of your being. If you are fully present, the rain of the Dharma will water the deepest seeds in your store consciousness, and tomorrow, while you are washing the dishes or looking at the blue sky, that seed will spring forth, and love and understanding will appear as a beautiful flower.”

– Thich Nhat Hanh, Teachings on Love

#selfportraitproject #thichnhathanh #teachingsonlove #seeyourselfreflected
Many thanks to everyone who participated in, and p Many thanks to everyone who participated in, and partnered with, the Self-Portrait Project in the past year — our busiest ever in the almost 17 years we’ve been in existence. Across 184 activations, 20 installations, 31 cities, and 86 unique locations, you all took a whopping 448,288 portraits using our system — an average of 1,228 each day. 

In an age of ubiquitous, ephemeral imagery, our hope (and intention) is that the experience of using SPP may have brought you a moment of joy, presence, or even transformation. 

Your participation + partnership contributed to the continued vitality of the living system we are growing, comprising the SPP public archive, community activations such as our NYC Pop-Up Portrait Studio and The Tapestry of Us shoots, innovations such as our geolocating SEAT Spotter tech, and of course the interactive photo mirrors we have installed at (some of your) venues around the globe. 

Thank you. More to come in 2026.

2025 BY THE NUMBERS

Total Portraits Taken
448,288 (+235,093)

Avg. Photos Snapped Per Day
1,228 (+645)

Unique Users
45,975 (+20,331)

Activations
184 (+51)

Unique Locations
86 (-19)

Cities Shot in
31 (-6)

Installations Added
@medusabrooklyn 
@skinnydennis_nash 
@pineboxrockshop 
@wnytimessquare 
@holydiverneworleans 
@nikkilopezphilly 
6 (+1)

Most Photos Shot in One Location @skinnydennis_nash 
109,854 (+74,628)

Total Portraits in Archive
1,800,953

#SelfPortraitProject #InteractiveArt #PhotoBoothExperience #ParticipatoryArt #NYCArts
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