Sketch’O’Matic

The Sketch’O’Matic was invented by Bren O’Callaghan for the Manchester Weekender festival in 2011. It is built like a regular photobooth: people are invited to sit inside the booth as if for a photograph. But where the machinery should be is a tiny, fully equipped artist studio, where the artist sits and draws. People are invited to make a minimum donation of £1 to the artist through an anonymous slot in return for a self-portrait, delivered through a little slot outside of the booth, just like a regular photomaton. The artist can remain anonymous or sign the portrait.

This was such an amazing experience for me, I really enjoyed the challenge of not being able to spend more than 2 to 3 minutes on every portrait, given the long queue of people waiting! People also really relax as they quickly become unaware that they’re being watched (I was able to see them through a one-way mirror).

I did it for 3 hours and managed to draw 62 people. Behind each portrait I left a little note or compliment about the person. Apologies for the poor quality of the pictures, these were taken with my small phone and in a hectic rush!