Candid Camera lenses ???

[Ian C]

Hi all,
I'm a bit new to this game of message boards and photography for that matter, but I'm about to invest in a half decent digicam and what I really would like to know about is ............ are there any universal lens attachments (or covers?) that would allow a user to take a photo whilst not actually pointing the camera at the subject?? I imagine that it would work like a right angled periscope thingy (on the horizontal plane) ............. The idea is to find a way around having the subject 'freeze' into some horrible pose whenever a camera is pointed in their direction ............ especially useful in countries where portrait photography is not especially welcome ......... (Are there any ethical issues that aught to be considered here ????)

So is there anyone out there that might know about such a gizmo or am I going to have to invent it ???

All help and comments appreciated ........ Thanks ......Ian C.