Meet The Team | Liam
What makes Photomatica special is our people. We’re a crew of vintage enthusiasts with a knack for the cool and quirky, all about the old-school vibes and capturing epic memories. Meet Liam Hogan, a key part of the team who brings serious problem-solving skills and a calm, can-do attitude to everything he touches. Whether he’s troubleshooting a booth in the field, wiring up new builds, or helping finesse the tiniest details, Liam keeps the heart of Photomatica humming — one strip at a time.
What’s your role at Photomatica, and what does a typical day look like for you?
I direct our rental operations, so I work with Lisa & Brady to help direct our events program- they handle sales & I take care of the scheduling, personnel management, and all the stuff on the technical end. I'm kind of a busybody, so I try to assist the build team & help out at the Photo Booth Museum as much as possible too.
Matt & Doug are very gracious about letting me direct my own priorities & self-assign my work, so I don't really have an easy to explain routine. Every couple of months my day-to-day role shifts & I spend a lot of time traveling so every day is something different!
What originally drew you to working with photo booths? Or Photomatica in general?
Something about photography scratched my brain just right as a teenager & I became obsessed with taking photos- in college I found myself working as a photographer & I had this really incredible creative partner, MK, that I would shoot weddings with. We had gotten really bored of looking at digital photos, so we started shooting film in our free time & fell in love with the delayed gratification that came along with having to wait to develop each roll. Around that same time, I dropped out of college & visited San Francisco for the first time- MK, our friend Tyler, and her friend Nikki joined me- then we stumbled into the Musée Mécanique by chance one night & used their Model 14. We were all instantly mesmerized by the quality, the texture of the paper, & how it made taking a photo together feel like a momentous activity again.
Five years later, I moved to SF on a Saturday morning & started working here the following Monday. In regard to my personal life, pretty much everything went wrong right away. I was on my own, totally broke, and didn't have the most stable living situation, so I was prepared to move back to Kansas City just six weeks in. I liked the work, but the people were what really drew me in. Matt, Doug, Lex, Max, and Grande were all there for me in a lot of really meaningful ways & really made it apparent how special it is to work here. My two year anniversary was last week & staying in California was the best decision I've ever made.
What’s your favorite photo booth strip you’ve ever taken—and why? (And can we see it?)
My parents came to visit for the first time last August & we took this strip while they were checking out Club Photomatica at 710 Collective. No big explanation behind why this one is my favorite. We've only gotten to be together in person three times since the move & we don't really have a lot of photos together without all my like 15 other siblings crowding the frame, so it feels special. I just love them so much, dude.
What’s one detail at Photomatica that most people might overlook, but you secretly love?
"Overlooked" maybe isn't the right word for this, but the build team goes all out with extra details during the booth documentation photo shoots. Most of the time we don't even post them or send them to clients, hahaha. There's some sick ones of Max next to a stainless steel-plated booth in a matching reflective silver jumpsuit and another really good set where LB is hitting some Globetrotter-esque moves with a basketball next to a booth we built for a bar called Seven Grand.
You get to time travel to any decade for one day—where are you going and what are you wearing?
I would go back to Prague in the 1410s wearing like nine rollie bussdowns, four Jeff Hamilton jackets at the same time, and leather Hellstar tribal jeans.
What song would you play as the soundtrack to a day in your life at work?
You Talk Way Too Much by The Strokes.
What’s your personal go-to pose when you’re in the booth? Be honest.
My go-to pose for the first frame is just a straightforward stare, no smile. Second frame is always a smile, then I figure something out in the moment for the third and fourth. I don't like to feel like I'm in there trying to put on a show.
You travel a lot for work. Where is the coolest place you’ve been to install a Photo Booth?
Highland Park Bowl and the Shrine are two of my favorite venues that we provide service for & I was stoked that I got to do both of those installs. Generally speaking, I love Los Angeles- that's my favorite city outside of San Francisco.
Story time. What’s the coolest or weirdest thing that’s ever happened while working at Photomatica?
Genuinely tough to pick just one story! There's been so much cool stuff- the major highlights were seeing Playboi Carti when we brought a booth to ComplexCon & when we got to provide a booth backstage for Tyler Childers at Shoreline. Photomatica took me out of the country for the first time & helped me cross a few things like visiting Slab City off my bucket list, which were both really perspective-widening moments. I've racked up a few weird stories as well- standouts including seeing Doug throw it back at Tootsie's in Nashville & spending a few late nights in the Mission with Matt. You wouldn't expect it but Matt has a gift at bringing freaky folks into his orbit.
I think one of my favorite things I've gotten to do since I started working here was going to Thanksgiving with Max's family in San Luis Obispo. It was cool in a wholesome way- one of those moments that reminds you there's more to a job than just making money.
Where can we find you when you’re not at work?
I'm usually out shooting photos or in Los Angeles when there's nothing major on the horizon. I try to stay pretty diligent about constantly working on photography zines or book projects in my freetime too, even if I don't release them.
