Home / DIY

Photographer Builds a Wearable Fully-Functional Camera as His Halloween Costume

bryantroll0

This past Halloween, photographer Bryan Troll did what he does best—he took pictures. But, being that it’s one of the few times of year when costumes are encouraged, Troll snapped his photos with a twist—he was dressed as a fully-functioning camera that shot all his images.

It took Troll at least 40 hours and about $100 in supplies to construct this impressive outfit, but his efforts were worth it—the costume captured and displayed photos just like a real digital SLR camera. There’s a strobe flash, an actual shutter, and an LCD screen that showcased the pictures as Troll took them. It made for a great party trick that people won’t soon forget.

There were aesthetic challenges when making this costume as well as technical ones. “I tried to balance having it be as proportional as possible so it looked good,” Troll explained to DIYPhotography, “but I also needed to make sure it fit me, and fit all the gear inside as well so it was an interesting challenge of measure, cut, trim, and tape, tape, tape each component.” In addition to the outer shell, he needed to ensure that the connectivity between the camera and screen would be reliable so that “it would automatically display the photos after they are taken without losing connection, [and go] to sleep.” Thankfully, Troll was able to solve these issues and create his epic costume. It’ll be hard to top it when next Halloween rolls around!

Here's the costume in action:

bryantroll10

Troll documented his process:

bryantroll1

bryantroll2

bryantroll3

bryantroll7

bryantroll6

bryantroll4

bryantroll5

These are some of the photos Troll took with his costume:

bryantroll11

bryantroll12

bryantroll14

bryantroll13

Bryan Troll: Facebook
via [Laughing Squid, PetaPixel]

Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met and Manager of My Modern Met Store. She is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art where she earned her BFA in Illustration and MFA in Illustration Practice. Sara is also an embroidery illustrator and writer living in Seattle, Washington. She runs Bear&Bean, a studio where she stitches pet portraits and other beloved creatures. She chronicles the creativity of others through her website Brown Paper Bag and newsletter, Orts. Her latest book is Threads of Treasure: How to Make, Mend, and Find Meaning Through Thread, published in 2014. Sara’s work has been recognized in Be Creative With Workbox, Embroidery Magazine, American Illustration, on Iron and Wine’s album Beast Epic, among others. When she’s not stitching or writing, Sara enjoys planning things that bring together the craft community. She is the co-founder of Camp Craftaway, a day camp for crafty adults with hands-on workshops in the Seattle area.
Become a
My Modern Met Member
As a member, you'll join us in our effort to support the arts.
Become a Member
Explore member benefits