From then through the rest of the Renaissance period, artists adopted the camera obscura as a way to perfect their sketches and paintings. That all changed when an Italian scholar by the name of Giovanni Battista Della Porta advised artists to use the device to their advantage. Prior to 1558, the camera obscura was purely a scientific endeavor. Around this time, the camera obscura was a popular way to view solar eclipses. However, it wasn’t until the mid-1500s that glass lenses and mirrors were introduced as a way to direct images into special viewing areas. Scholars such as the Arab physicist Alhazen, Chinese scientist Shen Kuo and even Leonardo da Vinci all played roles in the further development of this technology. Work on the camera obscura continued on among scientific communities for another thousand years. Around 530 A.D., he used a primitive form of the camera obscura for architectural projects. Notable philosophers and scholars like Aristotle and Theon of Alexandria wrote about the concept, but it was Anthemius of Tralles that was one of the first in recorded history to actually use the camera obscura. Mozi’s work is the first in recorded history, taking place around 400 B.C.Īfter Mozi’s first conception, the camera obscura underwent centuries of further development before being put to a practical use. Of course, he called the camera obscura by a different name - the “locked treasure room.” This first discovery illustrates just how old the science of photography is. Over the course of his studies, he the way that light created images on the walls of a dark room when it entered the room through a pinhole. The camera obscura was first imagined by a Chinese philosopher named Mozi. Let’s delve a little bit more deeply into the fascinating history of this device and how it led to the modern-day camera! The First to Capture Light Because of the nature of optics, this scene is always upside down, but nevertheless, it provides an accurate picture of whatever the camera obscura sees. The light that comes through that pinhole projects a scene from outside on the opposite wall. In fact, photography started with a simple device known today as the “camera obscura.” What is a camera obscura? In Latin, the words mean “dark room,” and that is a succinct and accurate description of this device.Ī camera obscura is an empty room without light but for a small pinhole in one wall. It may surprise you to learn that photography has roots far older than two or three centuries of science.

Camera obscura band