Engraving depicting a camera obscura, 1664. From Technica curiosa by Gaspar Schott (1608-1666). The camera obscura ("dark chamber") is the ancestor of the photographic camera. Light was allowed into a small darkened box through a tiny hole. An inverted image appeared on the inside wall of the outer scene. This was used for viewing solar eclipses and (from the 16th century) as a drawing aid. Eventually an angled mirror was introduced so that the image could be seen the right way up. A light-sensitive plate introduced by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce allowed the image to be preserved, thus creating mo

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Engraving depicting a camera obscura, 1664. From Technica curiosa by Gaspar Schott (1608-1666). The camera obscura ("dark chamber") is the ancestor of the photographic camera. Light was allowed into a small darkened box through a tiny hole. An inverted image appeared on the inside wall of the outer scene. This was used for viewing solar eclipses and (from the 16th century) as a drawing aid. Eventually an angled mirror was introduced so that the image could be seen the right way up. A light-sensitive plate introduced by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce allowed the image to be preserved, thus creating modern photography. Colorized.

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Size: 2580px × 3574px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 1600s, 17th, art, bw, camera, century, colorized, curiosa, diagram, early, enhanced, gaspar, history, obscura, photography, pinhole, prowned, schott, technica