Camera Obscura Essay

Photography is prevalent in our daily lives, we use it to capture the moments we want to remember forever. Most people do not recognize how long it took the camera to get where it is and the amount of transformations it has gone through. The evolution of the camera started in 400 BC and is still continuing, acquiring different technological advances everyday. The evolution and history of the camera is very extensive and has impacted the world in tremendous ways. The world would be an entirely different place without the camera.

Camera Obscura

The camera obscura technology has been around since ancient times, the first known mention came from the Chinese philosopher Mo-ti in 400 BC. Aristotle, the Greek scholar and philosopher also described the principle of camera obscura and used it to observe a solar eclipse in 350 BC. The most famous recollection is of Leonardo da Vinci, he used it to study perspective, specifically light and shadow. Camera obscura helped artists because they could now trace images, giving them the ability to create more lifelike pieces. Although there were many prior uses, the technology became more popular and improved around the 16th century. Camera obscura translates to “dark room” and can be described as a box in which light rays pass through a small aperture and are projected upside down onto a screen. The aperture is a tiny hole, this is where camera obscura gets its alternative name, the pinhole camera. Camera obscuras started very large and over time were condensed to small wooden boxes making it very easy to carry around. In the 16th century, camera obscuras were used for painters and draughtsmen because they were now portable and utilized lenses and mirrors so the image could be projected outside...

... middle of paper ...

...rough the computer with everyone and anyone around the world. Digital cameras also make it very easy for people to edit their images. Unlike in the past the amount of ways you can change an image is infinite. Products such as Adobe Photoshop can be used to edit pictures at either a professional level or an amateur level. Editing photos can also even be done on a smart phone. Digital cameras also offer the ability to take videos and put them on the computer, and in most cases digital cameras are a great alternative to expensive movie cameras.

Photography is everywhere and without the camera none of it would be there. The history and evolution of the camera started thousands of years ago but it still continuing to advance today. The camera has made a large impact on the world around us and continues to everyday. Without the camera, how different would the world be?