You might have heard of Snap 151, Rainbow Vomit and Candytopia. Thousands of people are buying tickets to these pop-up art exhibits across North Texas, and for the past two months, Arlington has had one of its own.
It’s called TFTI, Interactive Photo Experience, and it is located off of South Cooper Street in the plaza behind Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers restaurant.
TFTI, which stands for “Thanks For The Invite” (or “That’s For The Instagram” or “Thanks For The Inspiration”), is owned by three Houstonians and an Arlington-based business partner who pushed the others to come to the American Dream City.
“We wanted that vibe of TFTI,” says co-owner Bryan Andaya, “people seeing your photos, feeling like they missed out, and they have to come experience it.”
The interactive photo experience features 12 premium rooms ranging in theme from Cloud Room to Pillow Fight, Mirror Room to Upside Down, and features numerous photo activations throughout the space.
While the experience is self-guided, there are attendants to point customers in the right direction and to help take photos, boomerangs or snaps. “Our goal is for anyone to come in and take a fun, out-of-the-box photo that they can’t take anywhere else and have a blast doing it,” explains Andaya.
TFTI is a new company that is less than a year old. It was launched in Houston in November. Previous to this venture, the co-owners ran a photo booth business for nearly a decade, but recognized an even bigger opportunity.
“We saw how Texans embraced the murals across the city,” says Andaya. “And they would spend hours at a color wall or a slogan wall, and we thought, ‘Why not create a ton of Instagrammable, out-of-the box photo opps and put it all in one place?’”
That’s what they did.
North Texas is the second stop in TFTI’s tour of the Lone Star State. The exhibit has entertained customers not only from the centrally located Arlington, but from Fort Worth and Dallas, as well.
“We saw Arlington has a lot of other great attractions as well,” notes Andaya, “and we wanted to add our photo experience to that when people come here to visit.”
While TFTI’s first run in town wraps up the first week of June, the owners’ goal is to extend their stay in Arlington. Andaya says they hope to be back next year with all new rooms.
TFTI is targeted to the generation of Instagrammers and influencers, but it is open to all ages. There is free admission for children 4 and younger.
For more: tfti.com.
