So, I want to take a moment to build upon last Monday’s blog post about 1930s Chicago. I started to go off on a bit of a diatribe about our smartphone cameras and the current mindset around taking photographs.
I looked for a good historical telling of the history of the camera through the centuries. I found the article, How the Development of the Camera Changed Our World, enlightening and it taught me a couple of things.
For example, the first documented instance of someone discussing the principles of camera obscura (a Latin term translating into either “dark room” or “dark chamber”) dates back to the Chinese Han dynasty (circa 468-391 BC).
Camera obscura is an optical principle whereby an image outside of the camera is projected through a small opening onto a surface on the opposite side of the opening. While the concept is—legitimately—ancient, the term originated in the 16th Century.
I’ll save you from my regurgitation of historical dates and figures going through the history of photography. So, I will encourage you to take the time to overlook the inline advertisements and give the article a read. It is fascinating to see how cameras—much like computers—developed from large, bulky inventions to fitting in the palm of our hand.
Cover photo by James Ayscough – https://archive.org/details/b30373177/page/n1/mode/2up, Public Domain, Link
