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NOT-A-CAMERA Is A Functional Optical Illusion

When she’s not designing LED tutus, Olivia Barr makes real cameras look fake.

Inspired by her 101-year-old grandmother and namesake, artist Olivia Barr wanted to make a camera that would be light and easy to use. NOT-A-CAMERA looks like an illustration of an old Leica, but upon further inspection, it’s the ultimate in anti-tech: it’s 2D and made of wood.

Beyond its superficial appearance, NOT-A-CAMERA is, in fact, a working camera. A spy cam and microphone are embedded in the surface of the wood, including a mirror front version for selfies. NOT-A-CAMERA shoots HD video and 3.5mb jpgs.

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To showcase the capabilities of her invention, Barr has invited individual artists to submit their work to an ongoing Tumblr. But amidst images of cool kids, Barr’s amalgamation of vintage and digital is most charming as functional jewelry for her grandma, the original photographer of the family:

Buy NOT-A-CAMERA in walnut or mirror acrylic here.

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