Camirror by DoggHouse Productions

Backstory: This is a very special project, as it was conceived out of pure passion & imagination. I love when my daydreams manifest into realized actualities. Basically, when thoughts become things – like the teachings of The Secret. I’ve been tinkering with a semi-professional photography career now for almost 2 years. When I look around major cities, I always see 2 things without fail: at least 1 schmuck wearing a Yankees cap, and people with digital SLR cameras strapped around their necks!

Camera culture is an undeniable epidemic. I love that part of Demetri Martin’s stand up routine when he jokes about digital cameras. He makes the shutter sound and says “awwww look at us….we were so young.” I had just purchased a 10.5mm f/2.8 fisheye lens for my Nikon D90, I was living in San Francisco at the time, and my room had a 26″ diameter convex safety mirror displayed on my desk that my buddy Justin “Tanoshi” Sornoso-Salvador had ripped off the wall outside the parking garage of the The Well in Hollywood. One thing led to another and….zzzzzzziiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnngggggg!!! Abracadabra!I traced a photo of a D90 in Photoshop, illustrated it in Flash, took precise measurements of the body and multiplied the lens size until it equaled 26″ and had the absolute exact aspect ratios to the original. I then took this image and went to Kinko’s to blow it up on their plotter. I bought a piece of plywood at a local lumber yard and cut out the shape with a jigsaw. I routed the edges, sanded the piece, and primed it with spray paint. I then used an x-acto knife to create a stencil out of the printout of all the white lines. I taped it to the wood, used a white pencil to lightly mark the designs, and then hand painted everything with acrylic. I used a 2 part epoxy to bond the mirror to the piece and mounted the finished product.I have big plans for this piece. Now that the prototype is complete, I have new refined and streamline production methods in mind and have wild dreams of expansion. I think my first stop is going to be contacting the Oakland Community Department and applying for a grant to put these up at a local BART station. A friend of mine wants to have me make a bunch of these for her hair salon in Sacramento. I eventually want to get these featured in a gallery and start reaching out to famous designers and having them paint or canvas the template with their signature styles. I’m talking Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Gucci, Burberry, Vans, Supreme, Tiffany’s, Stussy, Ralph Lauren, Adidas, Nike, DC, Major League Sports Franchises, Yago Hortal, MAC, Retna, and whoever else I can get in contact with. Wish me luck!Camera Mirror design concept daydreamed, conceived, designed and executed with excellence by DoggHouse Productions. Stay tuned for the next episode of this project. That’s how the Pro’s do it!