Black & White Portrait Of a Woman By John W. Garver, Greenville, Ohio.

Black and White Portrait Of a Woman, By John W. Garver, Greenville, Ohio.

A natural phenomenon, known as camera obscura or pinhole image, that can project a (reversed) image through a small opening onto an opposite surface. This principle may have been known and used in prehistoric times. The earliest known written record of the camera obscura is found in Chinese writings called Mozi, dated to the 4th century BCE. Until the 16th century, the camera obscura was mainly used to study optics and astronomy, especially to safely watch solar eclipses without damaging the eyes. In the latter half of the 16th century, some technical improvements were developed: a (biconvex) lens in the opening (first described by Gerolamo Gardano in 1550) and a diaphragm restricting the aperture (Daniel Barboro in 1568) gave a brighter and sharper image. In 1558 Giambattista Della Porta advised using the camera obscura as a drawing aid in his popular and influential books. Della Porta's advice was widely adopted by artists and since the 17th century, portable versions of the camera obscura were commonly used, first as a tent, later as boxes. The box-type camera obscura was the basis for the earliest photographic cameras when photography was developed in the early 19th century.

Item Code - VIS12E57A43REA

Width: 7"  Height: 11"  Depth: 1/8"  Weight: 63 g