In the Indian city of Belgaum, there’s a man who loves cameras so much that he built a 3-story camera-shaped house, 49-year-old professional photographer Ravi Hongal spent over $94,000 building his unusual dwelling, which features a lens, flash, film reels, memory card, and viewfinder on its facade. The inner rooms are reportedly camera-themed as well.

The house is so bizarre-looking that it has become something of a tourist attraction in Hongal’s town. It would also be a perfect building to turn into a working giant camera. A man’s who loved photography also had a dream: to live in a house that resembled a camera. And when Ravi Hongal turned that dream into a grand reality, it was just a matter of time before the world sat up and took notice. For the past few days, photos of this unique house in Karnataka’s Belagavi city is breaking the internet.

Hongal has been a photographer for the last 33 years. While Hongal’s love for photography is well known in the region, his recently-completed house has seen people from nearby areas arriving to take photographs and selfies with it.

According to him building the house wasn’t an easy task. “he loves photography and camera and everything related to it”. Over the years a lot has changed in the area, but his  love for it remains the same, “It was his long-cherished dream to build a house that would look like a camera but he didn’t know how to build it — both in terms of executing the concept and monetarily.” However, after saving for years, he came across engineers and architects who helped him realize his dream.

Hongal credits Key Concepts Interiors, which did the construction and interior designing of the project that resulted in a large number of photography-related features inside and outside the house. There are camera brand names — Canon, Nikon and Epson — etched on the wall of the house, which interestingly, are also the names of Hongal’s sons. A railing of one of the balconies is shaped like a reel. A big flash mounted on top of a lens and hood is also seen outside. There are also features like a memory card and a roll of film on the walls, and a camera shutter on the main gate.

When asked how his children feel about their unique names, He said: “When I decided to name them after camera brands, they didn’t understand much but his wife was very supportive. They often used to ask me about their names as they got older, and even if they did mind earlier, now they’re quite happy. He explained that he named them after things he love the most and they understood it, and now are proud.” Asked if he ever imagined that the photos of his house will become an internet sensation, he said he did not build the house for publicity he is just happy that his passion issues being recognized and people are enjoying it.

What do you think?
Will you love to visit Hongal’s house and as a photographer, do you think your love is so great for you to build and live in an actual camera house. (For more details https://indianexpress.com/article/trending/trending-in-india/karnataka-photographer-builds-house-in-shape-of-camera-6506869/)