In deciding what type of profession to showcase for Framerica’s recent  “The This Job…and Fame It” Boxer Challenge, Micheal Mixon, a custom framer from Alabama, went with a field near and dear to his heart: photography.

    A photographer’s power to permanently record an event an  event and the emotions of the people involved has always enthralled him, especially since his daughter, Lily, was born four years ago, and he began documenting every moment of her upbringing with a camera.

     For his entry, he constructed a gigantic camera, complete with a lens and live video feed, and filled the shadowbox portion with pictures of people and places that make him smile.  It turns out his creation delighted others as well.  Visitors to Framerica’s booth during the DÉCOR Expo Atlanta in September voted Mixon’s project, titled “Say Cheese, as the first-place winner out of eight finalists.

    “I was flattered, astonished and happy, very happy,” Mixon says. “It was a really great feeling to put your heart into a project and to be honored for it.”

     Mixon started the project three weeks before the contest deadline and worked tirelessly up until the end, running lots of senarios by his wife, Emily, and logging a lot of late-night television. “He puts his all into everything,” Emily says. Once he gets his mind set on something, it’s all he thinks about until he’s done.”

    He incorporated various items within the shadowbox, in-cluding $1,300 worth of cameras, photos, and DVD/LCD player, tripod (both in the shadowbox and supporting the shadowbox), wiring, antique light meters, flashes, memory cards and other elements.  Many of the items, Mixon incorporated possessed sentimental value.  One of the video  cameras captured his daughter’s birth, her first steps and her first words.  A 1940s Argus camera and G.E. light meter that Mixon included were used by his wife’s grandfather during the Korean War.

    Mixon says he enjoyed Framerica’s Boxer Challenge because the contest allowed framers to think outside the box and come up with creative pieces to show their customers. This is something the frameshop where Mixon works, David’s Art & Frames in Birmingham, Ala., has been able to do for many years.

    Two years ago, Mixon was a finalist in Framerica’s Amature Sports Boxer Challenge. The owner of the shop, David Wheeler, has entered Framerica’s Boxer Challenges three times. One of Wheeler’s pieces had a golf theme and placed third, and a piece he entered in this year’s contest titled “Artist’s Pallet” was a top finalist.

 In displaying the projects, “we’ve had several new  customers come in and become educated on just what exactly a shadowbox is,” Mixon says.  “They never knew it was  possible to frame just about anything.” It’s talented framers like Mixon that demonstrate the wide range of possibilities.