Some old trends, such as disposable cameras and the grainy, light-streaked photos they produce, have recently made a comeback among young people, but Tuong said he hadn’t noticed them bringing any significant boost to his business. A Bloomberg report from 2015 counted only 190 one-hour photo shops in the United States, down from 3,066 in 1998 and 7,600 in 1993. One-hour photo processing shops vanished especially quickly. It’s too expensive to run the machine for a lone customer.īusinesses focused on analog media, such as newsstands and video-rental stores, have suffered a heavy blow in recent years. Though the name advertises “one hour” film development, Tuong said he hasn’t been able to do that in years. Dusty gumball machines filled with little toys sit in a corner, near a small pinball machine. Tuong said some of those girls have since come back to the store to have their own kids’ photos taken. The store’s walls are plastered with sepia-tone wedding photos and faded glamour shots Tuong has taken over the years girls posing - a hand on their hip, or behind their head, or looking back over their shoulder - against patterned backdrops. There’s less demand for developing film or printing wallet-size photos, and Tuong said whole days could pass without a single customer stepping in for a portrait in the small studio at the back of the store. But as the digital-camera era ramped up, business dwindled. Tuong’s shop was popular when it opened in 1991. In the afternoon, the stream of customers grew to a flood. She couldn’t remember the last time the store had been this busy. Two of Tuong’s nieces stopped by to check in, bringing water bottles and beer, and Le asked them to stay and help. Around noon, Tuong’s wife, Lisa Le, noted they’d missed 17 calls. Davenport sat on a short white column, leaned her elbow against another, and smiled for the picture. Sixty-year-old Tom Tuong, the store’s owner, photographer and only full-time worker, unfurled a cheerful backdrop printed with a rainbow and leafy tree branches. She said the retro yearbook-picture vibe was what drew her. Joanne Davenport, 21, showed up with her friend, actress Maude Apatow - a Musgraves fan - to get photos taken in matching plaid print tube dresses. Since then, her fans and other people chasing a nostalgic look have flocked to Tom’s. The Grammy-winning country artist and her sister happened upon Tom’s One Hour Photo this week and fell in love with it, and Wednesday they gave the quiet shop - which has no website and doesn’t even take credit cards - a giant boost on social media. They were there because Kacey Musgraves told them to go. Hunter Crenshaw and his friends clustered on a Koreatown sidewalk Thursday in bright, glittering outfits and bold accessories, eager for their turn to have their pictures taken at a hole-in-the-wall photo studio that basically hasn’t changed since the 1990s.
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