In March 1942, during World War II, a British soldier named John Beat was on leave in Cairo, Egypt. He served with the 14th Base Supply Depot (BSD) of the Royal Army Service Corp (RASC), where he worked in stores and supplies in North Africa. This role placed him behind the front lines, managing the essential equipment and provisions for the troops.
While away from his duties, Beat and his best friends took the opportunity to get some souvenir photographs. They found a photobooth, a popular novelty at the time, and decided to capture memories of their time together.
Inside the small curtained booth, the soldiers let go of their military composure. Instead of formal, serious portraits, they chose to be playful. The resulting photo strips show a group of young men making faces and joking around for the camera.
The photobooth offered a private space where they could momentarily shed their uniforms’ formality and simply be themselves. The small, quickly-produced photo strips became personal keepsakes, capturing a moment of lighthearted friendship amidst the broader conflict. The photos were later kept in John Beat’s personal wartime photo album.
