Camera Obscura

An optical device consisting of a darkened chamber with a small circular opening to let a small amount of light pass through. It traces its history back to the essential components of the pinhole camera in both Eastern and Western ancient civilizations. Importantly, the image of the space projected from the hole to the inside surface of the chamber is reversed. The camera obscura faded in popularity with the invention of photography in the mid nineteenth century, however modern and contemporary artists have often sought out the pinhole method for its more purified representation.