DAY 2

HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Ancient Times

GLIMMERS OF LIGHT

Camera obscura (from Latin for “dark room” or “darkened chamber”) is a large room or box with a tiny hole in one side, through which light passes through and casts an upside-down image of whatever was directly outside. This principle was one of the major precursors to the development of photography.

While Arab scientist Ibn al-Haytham is credited with building the first camera obscura in or around the year 1021 AD, prior to that Chinese philosopher Mo-Tzu and Greek philosopher Aristotle both wrote of the principles surrounding the images created by light passing through a small opening.

In the 13th century, Roger Bacon described the camera obscura as a safe method with which to observe eclipses. Leonardo da Vinci refers to the camera obscura in “Codex Atlanticus.”

Beyond the world of science, the device also found applications in the work of artists, who made use of the precise detail in the images, ultimately using tracing paper to copy them and then using the copies to advance the realism in their work.

By the 18th century, smaller more portable versions emerged and found favor with both professional and amateur artists who could carry them around and choose their subject matter. It was this type of small camera obscura that was later adapted by Louis Daguerre and William Henry Fox Talbot into early versions of what came to be known as a camera. —DJG