Payphones on Film
2018 - Present
Overview
In this series, I’m using 35mm film to photograph the remains of public telephone fixtures. Since 2018, I’ve photographed payphones in hundreds of unique locations within the U.S., spanning numerous cities and states as far south as Florida and as far west as Washington state.
The Payphones on Film series is equal parts scavenger hunt, creative process, and documentation.
Explore the Payphones on Film Series:
Photo Archive
Gallery Artworks
Diorama
Photo-Books
Gallery Artworks
Pigment Transfers & Acrylic on Handmade Panels
10.5” x 16.5 each
Payphones on Film
Photo-Booklets
Self-published in 2023
These booklets collect photographs from Dylan Bannister’s Payphones on Film series. Available in four individual variants - Light, Signs, Overgrown, and Fences - the titles reference the common theme shared by the 16 images within each.
Dead Ringer - Appreciated
Diorama with Pigment Transfer on Panel
34" x 10.5" x 16"
2023
If payphones could take selfies, what would they look like? This work presents a scene from the Payphones on Film photo series. A photograph from the series titled Appreciated at Citgo is displayed as a pigment transfer on panel. Beneath is a diorama constructed of painted resin figures on a concrete base, which recreates the scene in the photograph. The included figure of a photographer aiming his camera at the scene references the artist and his process - a "dead ringer" of himself.
Payphones on Film Photo Archive
Note: the Photo Archive will be updated over time to include more photos from the series. Check back to see more!
Filter by:
Location
- FL - Dania Beach
- FL - Fort Lauderdale
- FL - Hollywood
- FL - Malibar
- FL - Miami
- FL - Oakland Park
- GA - Riceboro
- NC - Asheville
- NC - Durham
- NC - Greensboro
- NC - Kannapolis
- NC - Raleigh
- NC - Salisbury
- NC - Spencer
- NC - Swannanoa
- SC - Anderson
- SC - Chester
- SC - Clinton
- SC - Gaffney
- SC - Greenwood
- SC - Lake City
- SC - Lynchburg
- SC - Orangeburg
- SC - Ridgeway
- SC - Rock Hill
- SC - Saint George
- SC - Whitmire
Series Timeline
-
![]()
2018
To preserve the memory of a demolished convenience store, I used my partner’s 35mm camera to photograph the payphone that remains. Former Site of Citgo (R.I.P.) was the image that initiated the series.
-
![]()
2018 - 2019
After photographing that initial payphone, I started to notice that more of them were still standing. I began bringing the film camera with me whenever I would travel, specifically to document them.
-
![]()
2019
I self-published the first photo-booklet, which collected some of the earliest images in the series. An edition of 50 copies, the first Payphones on Film booklet included 12 photos.
-
![]()
2021
My piece Left Behind at Value Mart is juried into the ArtPop Street Gallery Cities Program. For an entire year, this image was displayed on billboards and public advertising spaces throughout the CLT-Metropolitan Region and beyond!
-
![]()
2022
To present the photos in gallery exhibits, I began constructing custom rounded panels. The images are transferred with acrylic medium, and the panels’ sides are painted to match a prominent color in each photograph.
-
![]()
2023
The Payphone panels are juried into group exhibits, including ArtFields 2023. My solo exhibit Dialing Out featured 16 panels from the series all in a row in the Perimeter Gallery at the Center for the Arts in Rock Hill, SC.
-
![]()
2023 (cont.)
While continuing to photograph new payphone locations, I release four new photo books featuring photos from the series. My diorama ‘Dead Ringer’ is created and exhibited ourdoors for the Charlotte International Arts Festival.
