MILWAUKEE — Anaya Falkner turns 16-years-old in July. She wanted to celebrate the Milestone Birthday by having a photo shoot. 

What You Need To Know

  • Selfie Hop opened on the East Side of Milwaukee in June
  • There are 20 different selfie studios where people can take photos, including a confetti room and ball pit
  • Several similar businesses are starting to pop up across the state and country 

“I really like pictures, and because I feel like, yeah, I have family members in my life and friends that I care about, but we don’t have enough pictures together,” Falkner said. "I feel like the most important people in my life I don’t have pictures with, and I like getting pretty, so it was a reason to dress up.”

Her photoshoot, though, is a little different than what she is used to. 

There are no studio quality cameras. There are no professional photographers. 

“I’ve taken like professional photography photos where a photographer would take my picture, but that was when I was like, eight, and tried to be a model,” Falkner laughed.

Instead, at “Selfie Hop” in Milwaukee, there are just ring lights, and your own cell phone. 

It’s an idea Alison White got a few years ago while in Chicago with her daughter. 

“The makeup store we went to was called 'Winky Looks' and in the back, they had maybe like five or six booths kind of like this set up for photos and it was so cute,” White said. "We spent so much time there taking photos and we had a blast. I was just waiting and waiting for something like this to pop up in Milwaukee, and it never did."

So, White, a teacher at Salam School, took it into her own hands. It took a few years though to get her business plan off the ground. 

She opened Selfie Hop at the beginning of June, right as COVID-19 restrictions really began to ease. 

“It was both at the same time. Like, restrictions were lifted, and we were finally finished with the studio, so those kind of went hand-in-hand, and we were able to open successfully,” White said. 

Now, her customers can take fun selfies in 20 different 'studios'— an all pink dressing room, a picnic scene, a picture with butterflies floating around you, a ball pit, or what White considers the most popular, the confetti room. 

It costs $16 for an hour for each person to take as many different photos as they'd like.

“It makes you happy that you’re able to provide something that makes people have a good time,” White said. 

And, with similar businesses popping up in different places across the state and country, this fun twist on taking photos just might be here to stay.