The Birth Roots Photo Booth is BACK for a 10th year after a two year hiatus! This collaborative photojournalism essay on family life is inspired by the hope to make real family life and childhood more visible. This pop-up photo booth is a powerful glimpse into all the ways that families take shape and experience phases, moods, and imperfection – both individual and collective. See this link for the back story of this event.

Know Before You Go:

• Date: Tuesday, August 12, 2025
• Time: Time slots available between 4:00-7:00 pm for 3-minute micro-sessions
• Location: Birth Roots Outdoor Classroom at 16 Vannah Ave. Portland, ME (rain location: inside Birth Roots 2nd Floor Treetop classroom)
• Parking: Free parking is available in the lot at Birth Roots as well as street parking. Please allow additional time before/after your time slot to park and walk from your car as needed.
• Ticket Price: $160 per family
• Registration: See below
• Photo Details: Families receive ~10 candid photos taken on film. Photos will be uploaded as high-resolution digital files to an online gallery available for digital downloading and printing.
• What to Bring: A fun loving attitude and anything your family may need to enjoy the event (snacks, water bottles, a favorite toy to play with while waiting for photos).

What to expect?

Families register to participate in a 15-minute window for a 3-minute micro-session with Alyssa Soucy. Alyssa is a Midcoast Maine family photographer who uses film cameras to document real family life, focusing on the energy of the relationship in its current moment of child development, and the often unkempt beauty that is life with children.

Participants should not expect formal portraits. This is a playful snapshot of family and human authenticity – silly, goofy, authentic facial expressions capturing a moment of our children’s growth & development. Laughing, squinting, nose to nose, cheek to cheek, raised eyebrows, the interplay of relationship… all the things! This is the opposite of “hold still for the camera,” it’s an approach the children tend to enjoy a whole lot more. 

On THURSDAY, June 26th, tickets for the Photo Booth Benefit will go on sale for the TUESDAY, August 12th event located in Birth Roots Outdoor Classroom at 16 Vannah Avenue, Portland, ME. Each family will receive a minimum of 10 black & white photos which will be uploaded to shared online gallery. All photographs will be available for downloading and printing. Photos will be made available ~5 weeks following the events.

2025 Benefit Ticket Price – $160

This event is a benefit for Birth Roots. Your participation in this event helps us to create a culture of support for parents, beginning in pregnancy and stretching throughout the vulnerable, precious, and tumultuous days of early parenthood. This is also a way for families to access family photos at a price point lower than most mini-sessions available in the area. 

WAIT! Before you participate in this fundraising event, it is important to fully understand what the benefit is and is not. These images might include eyes open or closed, looking up, down or away. Not everyone in your party will necessarily be facing the same direction, in the center-middle of the frame, or looking at the same focal point at the same time. Formal portraiture is not the intent or purpose of this photojournalism essay project and fundraising event.

By clicking purchase, I am agreeing to the following terms:

• We understand that this event is a fundraiser for Birth Roots. Tickets are non-refundable, but they are transferable and may be sold or given to another family. They may also be purchased as a gift for a friend or family member!
• We understand that the photographer is volunteering her expertise and time as a generous gift to Birth Roots and should not be contacted with requests for retakes or refunds.
• We understand that the photographer will produce a collection of our family in motion, but not individual shots of each member separately.
• We understand that, due to the excessive time involved in making individual galleries, images will be made available in one shared gallery only accessible to participants. Individual photo waivers will be made available prior to the event allowing you to opt-out of your photos being used in Birth Roots social media or marketing.
• We understand that this is a rain or shine event, with photos moving indoors if it is raining heavily on the event date.

It is our intent to sell all 40 tickets at the $160 Benefit Rate. If tickets are still available as of August 1st, their price will be reduced to $110.