2600 printed its first payphone photo in the Autumn 1988 issue. We received so many more contributions that printing pictures of foreign payphones became a regular feature a year later. The pictures appeared on page 2, which was limited to black and white. In the Autumn 1994 issue, we moved the payphones to the back page and put the table of contents on page 3. This enabled the payphone photos to be printed in their original color form. Now, by putting the pictures up on the web, we have created a growing library of foreign payphones. We're starting with all of the pictures we have already printed. We will be adding pictures that weren't printed as well since there are far fewer space constraints here. In addition, those early payphone photos that appeared on page 2 of 2600 can now be seen in color.
We're always looking for pictures of phones from around the world. Digital photos are great if you use high quality settings. This is necessary if your picture is printed in the magazine. You can also send us photographs through the mail, but going through the Internet is quicker and easier.
Some guidelines: Do not pose with your payphone. Scenes of local natives using your payphone are acceptable so long as they are not smiling and/or waving at the camera. The payphone itself is the subject.
If your photos are printed, we will give you a free one year subscription to 2600, a year of back issues, or a 2600 t-shirt. We cannot do this for photos that only appear on the web site however.
To zoom in on a particular region, click on that region on the map to the right. The yellow shades indicate regions for which we currently have photos; the grey shades indicate the opposite. For non-graphical users, we are currently providing pictures from Africa, Asia, North America, South America, The Middle East, Europe, and Oceania. Sorry, we haven't expanded to Antarctica, yet.