A distorted sense of SELFIE
Cheap, ordinary and conspicuously out of place, traffic mirrors add a layer of irreverence to photos
Mercedes JimenezCortes often takes pictures of herself in the domed mirrors that hang in parking garages. The mirrors turn an everyday scene surreal, bending concrete like it’s jelly and exaggerating the size of Jimenez-Cortes’ face, her iPhone or her extended middle finger.
Jimenez-Cortes, 24, who works for Instacart and lives in Atlanta, liked the look of the mirrors so much that she recently purchased one for her apartment. The stylishly named PLX18 Circular Acrylic Indoor Convex Security mirror cost $37 on Amazon and came equipped with a swivel mounting bracket to extend its range of visibility in loading docks and driveways. Jimenez-Cortes hung the mirror near a disco ball in her living room, where her cat, Pixie, uses it to gaze at his own contorted reflection.
“It looks funny,” JimenezCortes said. “But it looks funny on purpose.”
So goes Gen Z’s latest approach to the self-portrait. The #NoFilter selfie is out, and obvious, goofy distortion is in. There’s the 0.5 ultra-wideangle lens for extreme forced perspective; the AI portrait generator for rendering you like a painting; and the lo-fi digital camera for a grainy, nostalgic quality. Some young people in search of these effects are also turning to an item better known for capturing interstates than influencers: the traffic mirror.
You have seen these mirrors before. Sometimes called blindspot mirrors, they wing out from school buses and eighteen-wheelers. They are also often used as safety or security mirrors, allowing attendants at grocery stores and subway stations to keep watch over a wide area. They are probably