Polyfoto had studios equipped with special Polyfoto cameras, in most major cities. In 1939 London alone had twenty.  Click here for a list of polyfoto Studios

The 48 exposures were photographed on a glass plate using a single lens Polyfoto camera. The resulting print sheet resembles stills from a movie film.
The customer was sent a proof sheet of 48 poses. From this sheet the sitter could order enlargements of the best pose or booklets and cards of the smaller proof copy size.

The sitter was asked to look this way and that. Sometimes the session was stopped, to remove a hat or coat. The photographer would chat to the sitter to put them at ease and often induced a genuine smile. Children were often given a ball or balloon to play with.
I have never seen a polyfoto other than the 'head and shoulders' of a single sitter.

Wartime Polyfotos were given as parting gifts and often have poignant notes on the back. These simple photographs were carried in purses, wallets and paybooks in every theatre of war. Polyfotos often catch the personality of the sitter in a way that a formal portrait can sometimes miss. They survive in family photo collections all over Britain either as single portraits or irregular shaped groups of "rejects".
We often only see the photos that were not given away.
The business was killed-off primarily by coin operated photobooths.