Why is the camera obscura important?

Historically, it was a way for artists to quickly paint a scene as it could be projected onto a canvas and “traced”. In the time before photosensitive materials, painting was the only way to capture scenes. Plus it was simple to construct…. read more

Historically, it was a way for artists to quickly paint a scene as it could be projected onto a canvas and “traced”. In the time before photosensitive materials, painting was the only way to capture scenes. read more

Portable camera obscuras were used as aids for draughtsmen and painters. The camera obscura became the prototype for the modern day camera, invented in the first half of the 19th century, which uses light sensitive papers and films in order to preserve the image that is projected. read more

Camera obscura (plural camera obscura or camera obscuras; from Latin, meaning"dark room": camera"(vaulted) chamber or room," and obscura"darkened, dark"), also referred to as pinhole image, is the natural optical phenomenon that occurs when an image of a scene at the other side of a screen (or for instance a wall) is projected through a small hole in that screen as a reversed and inverted image (left to right and upside down) on a surface opposite to the opening. read more