They used to be large boxed vending machines where you could put coins in and the machine would vomit a polaroid photo.

However, the meaning of a photo booth or photobooth is shifting in this decade (the 2020s and beyond)!

Personally, I've seen a lot of photo booths that are more like "open-air" photography with simply a printer attached to them.

The printers have progressed to the point where anyone can simply bring one, snap a photo, and have it printed.

This is significant for photographers since it allows them to add a printer to their event photography (for example, weddings) and effectively become their own photo booth!

Then, as a result of this new phenomenon, corporations have capitalized, and you'll find vendors offering photo booths that resemble tall iPads.

In my perspective, this is a step down from a traditional "photo booth" because most of the images are taken on an iPad, and most iPads lack the special quality that photo booths provide. However, to each their own!

I'll give you an example: this is what a photo booth looks like disassembled. Pro tip, I help run one!