Has anyone got any tips or ideas about how to shoot THROUGH a mirror?

[bad wolf]

I've not logged in on here in a good while, hope everyone is OK!
For my final university project I want to look at photographing people who are looking at their own reflection, hopefully showing them lost in it and catching hidden expressions etc.
My current idea is to try to photograph through a mirror, which would either be held in front of, or rigged to my camera.
I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas how to technically do this?
I've been told it's theoretically possible (although very difficult in practise, but I'm going to ring some local glaziers!) to cut a hole the size of my camera lens in the back layer of a mirror, keeping the glass intact, then to shoot through that.
If that fails, I was just wondering if anyone had any other ideas?
Any help is very, very much appreciated!

[dalmorloson]

I think removing the "backing" of the mirror will make it lose the reflective properties in that spot. It will basically be a piece of glass there. One way mirrors are hard to shoot through because of the tint effect. Maybe position yourself with a zoom somewhere behind the person and actually shoot the reflection.

[bad wolf]

I don't think I'd mind too much about losing that. I'd be using one of my 50mm lenses which have a 52mm filter size, so it wouldn't be too big of an area.
I'm just writing down whatever comes to mind at the moment, have been struggling to come up with an idea for weeks and this one just hit me today - I just want to find out if it's actually possible haha! And I want to try to do it in a new way to avoid being clichéd or overdone.

[dalmorloson]

I'm saying that it would only be a piece of glass because anyone looking at the mirror would see the "lens hole" and realize what it is.

[corvus2606]

talk to a glazier about a 2 way mirror, the tint would be just like using a ND filter. you might need to throw a whole lot of light at the subject, and possibly go with a high ISO. but it would certainly be possible, and probably a good fun challenge.

[BuddhaPi]

i'm no glazer, but have worked with mirrors, you're not going to get the backing of the mirror off, it is a chemical process that adheres the tin / silver to the plate glass.. and if it was removed as stated earlier you would have plain old plate glass in that area..

[bad wolf]

The subjects would be aware that I'm photographing them.
Thanks for the comments so far anyway! Like I said, just at the initial stages of planning and development right now

[inkista]

Get a one-way mirror?

One Way Mirror - Buy any size glass or acrylic you need for your project

[Sterling]

You may not even need a mirror. Ever looked out a window while inside a brightly lit house? The window looks like a mirror to those inside while a photographer could shoot through the clear glass unseen. Just adapt the same principle using bright lighting on the subject side and darkness on the camera side.