ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

The Wonderful Camera Obscura

Updated on June 7, 2012
Image of Eastbourne Pier courtesy of Wikipedia. The camera obscura is the dome at the far end of the pier
Image of Eastbourne Pier courtesy of Wikipedia. The camera obscura is the dome at the far end of the pier

A Victorian Motion Picture

The camera obscura - Latin for "dark room" - was a sort of giant camera that Victorians could enjoy along with the other delights of the seaside, for they were usually found on popular beaches or in parks - anywhere that tourists and passers-by could enjoy them.

Briefly, the camera obscura works on the optical principle that when a pinhole of light is admitted to a dark room, the rays of light order themselves into an upside-down image of what is outside. The camera obscuras of the Victoria era were fitted with a lens (to sharpen the image that was created by the thin ray of light) and with a mirror to cast the image onto a horizontal viewing surface.

The camera obscura was first developed by the Islamic scholar Al-hazen in the 10th century, and was mentioned by Da Vinci in his notebooks. However, it was not until the 18th century that the portable, box version (the pinhole camera) was developed as an artist's tool, as well as the room-sized version. The 19th century was the real heyday of the walk-in camera obscura. They were popular all over the US and Europe.

The Eastbourne camera obscura dates from 1901 (some sources say 1888, however) and is the only one still in operation in the world that is located on a pier. It is well worth visiting if you go there, as long as you don't mind heights! I do, but I was so excited at the prospect of seeing one that I braved the sensation of being so far up, so far out from the land!

The Eastbourne camera obscura is in a VIctorian white onion dome of a building, located at the far end of the pier. It is placed high above several flights of stairs so that one can get a good view of the pier, the beach and the ocean - and this is really effective!

Inside, the camera obscura looks like a round room, very ordinary, with a large shallow white dish in the center, sort of like the 1960s home-movie projector screens, only round and horizontal. The curator made sure that the room was completely dark and began to turn a crank so that the panoramic image would turn and give us a 360 degree view of the outside world. It was really clear and sharp - the ocean, the pier below us with people moving around, and in the distance, the beachfront and beautiful white hotel buildings like wedding cakes. It was more like a home movie - not a still picture, which is what you think of with a camera - it is like a giant live-action photograph. I loved it and was so glad we had been able to visit.

Now there are only a handful of operatng camera obscuras, mostly in the US and the UK, as well as a few elsewhere in Europe and one in Cuba. Here's the current list - and if you ever do get a chance to go inside one, please do! I promise that you will not be disappointed!

US CAMERA OBSCURAS

Santa Monica, CA - Pacific Palisades Park

Los Angeles, CA - Griffith Observatory

San Francisco, CA - Cliff House

St. Paul, MN - Science Museum of Minnesota

Raleigh, North Carolina - North Carolina Museum of Art

UK CAMERA OBSCURAS

Bristol Observatory

Eastbourne Pier, Sussex

Portslade, Sussex

Long Melford, Sussex (Kentwell Hall)

Greenwich, London - Royal Observatory

Edinburgh, Scotland

Kirriemuir, Scotland

Dumfries, Scotland

Douglas, Isle of Man

Aberystwyth, Wales

Llandudno, Wales

Portmeirion, Wales

SOUTH AFRICA CAMERA OBSCURAS

Grahamstown

Johannesburg

Pretoria

Capetown

EUROPEAN CAMERA OBSCURAS

Turin, Italy - Cinema Museum

Lisbon, Portugal

Tavira, Portugal

Cadiz, Spain

Perdika, Aegina Island, Greece

Marburg, Germany

CAMERA OBSCURAS ELSEWHERE

Havana, Cuba

Images from Wikipedia and the New York Public Library Digital Gallery.

Camera Obscura, Central Park, New York City, 19th century
Camera Obscura, Central Park, New York City, 19th century
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)