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 Chris Grande (aka Grande to our crew), the driving force behind Photomatica’s vending operations. Whether he’s helping customers book a booth, solving technical hiccups, or keeping everything running behind the scenes, Chris ensures that every interaction with Photomatica is smooth, reliable, and memorable.

With expertise that spans both the technical and creative sides of photo booths, Chris brings a rare mix of precision and personality to his work. From walking customers through setup to coordinating on-site service with a smile, he handles every detail with care. His sharp problem-solving skills and dedication to top-notch support help keep the magic of photo booths alive, making sure every guest walks away with a timeless strip of memories.

We caught up with Chris to hear about his most rewarding customer experiences, his favorite booth locations, and what inspires him to keep bringing smiles to photo booth fans everywhere.

What’s your role at Photomatica, and what does a typical day look like for you?

My role is Operations Manager, which means I'm responsible for making sure all the booths, at least the digital ones, are running properly. I also handle refunds, assist vending clients and do some light graphic design work. Not only do I personally oversee the Bay Area fleet of digital booths on site, but I manage all the managers in our other territories. No day for me is typical, really. Everyday someone different is texting or calling me with questions or concerns. My main job is really to just be available. The most regular things in my schedule are checking all of our booths remotely Friday mornings and Sunday nights, handling refunds every morning, and cash collections on certain booths.

How did you first get involved with Photomatica?

I had responded to an ad looking for event attendants on Indeed. My partner, Mariam, mentioned that her sister cuts Doug's hair and so she put in a good word for me. It turned out, Doug had lost his Indeed password so I wouldn't have got the job otherwise! On my second event working, I showed my awesome problem solving skills and they offered me the role of Operations Manager. It was quite a quick promotion.

Do you have a favorite photo booth memory or a particularly fun project you’ve worked on?

My favorite thing is the vending managers summits every year - where we invite all the different territorial managers to SF in order to team build and skill workshops. It's great to hang out with these guys I have to sort of boss around from long distance. They've all grown to be my good friends so it's nice hanging out with them in real life. This year we all took tin-type photos which was super cool. The year before that we did a Segway tour through Golden Gate Park which was probably the greatest time in my life.

What’s your go-to pose in a photo booth?

I'm into ugly faces and full body distortion spreads. Though I have to throw in the occasional cutie pie face pics because my partner collects them. There are thousands, it's just too natural for me.

What’s your favorite location where we have a booth?

My favorite place we have a booth is Sandbar in Oakland - a very underrated booth in my opinion. The owner is super cool and the whole place is made up to look like a Caribbean island bar, complete with sand on the floor (which can be a pain because it fills the booth with dust). The bar is decorated to fit the vibe perfectly. Runner up is El Rio in SF because the staff there is super nice and I've played a handful of fun shows there in the past. They have wild kitties that live in the yard around the booth too, which is always a welcome perk.

What’s a random skill or hobby you have that people might not expect?

My main hobbies are playing music and painting, which are not really random or unexpected, people clock me for a musician all the time. But what might be unexpected is that I love to cook. I'm a vegan food wizard. I even astound myself sometimes.

Anything exciting coming up for you or Photomatica that people should keep an eye out for?

Oddly, I'm the last to know what's coming up! I'm more of the guy who takes care of what already is, haha. But there's always something rad around the corner which surprises me too, and I like it that way.

If you could choose anywhere in the world for the next Photomatica booth to be, where would you choose and why?

Honolulu, Hawaii. Me and my girlfriend love going there and it's the perfect place for our photo booths. There's very little competition (and the ones that are there, frankly, suck) and there's tons of tourists with money to burn. I would, of course, nominate myself as the territorial manager. I call dibs.

Where can people find you when you’re not at work?

I like to think that I am never not at work. I have a room in my home where I paint, record music and listen to records (I have probably a thousand). But I also do the majority of my Photomatica work there too. So if I'm working on a painting or a song, someone can and will text me and I put down my guitar or brush and quickly switch modes to take care of the issue. Just don't hit me up when I'm cooking, because you'll have to wait.

Meet The Team | Chris