Aug 21, 2025
The camera obscura (dark chamber) is an optical device that projects an inverted image through a small hole onto a surface. It was described by Leonardo da Vinci and later improved with a lens. This tool became a popular portable way for artists to trace landscapes, inspiring the quest for photography.
[ i. Camera obscura, from a manuscript of military designs. 17th century, possibly Italian / ii. Camera obscura image / iii. Illustration of "portable" camera obscura (similar to Risner's proposal) in Kircher's Ars Magna Lucis Et Umbrae (1645) / iv. Holes in the leaf canopy project images of a solar eclipse on the ground.]
