· Before the first photographic processes were invented, artists who wanted to create a quick record of a scene with the correct perspectives, used either a camera obscura (also the name of a really great band) or a camera lucinda.
· The camera lucinda enables you to simultaneously view your subject matter and your paper. How awesome!!!
· William Hyde Wollaston (1766-1828), British scientist, published the design in 1807.
· Wollaston’s design used a four-sided glass prism with varying angles, in order to trick your eyes.
· Camera lucinda is Latin for “light chamber”.
· This invention caught my eye, because as a visual artist, I’ve never heard of anything that does what this does, besides a light box.
· It seems that this device helped lay some foundation for photography. It was a stepping stone in getting images on paper without the use of artistic skill (hand-drawing things).
· A device such as the camera lucinda really helps us represent time and space ourselves, which is what I find to be cool now. In this modern age of digitalism and instant everything, this device can actually help us recognize and maybe even incorporate the process of capturing an image of reality. Nowadays we are so used to easily being able to capture images, with our cameras, phones, computers, that we can definitely forget how exciting the actual process is, and was back in the early 1800’s.
· Before photography, camera lucindas were extremely helpful and important in capturing legit images of realism.
Terrific post - I love the conversational tone of your writing, I love that you are reflecting on the personal significance of what you found and I love writing in bullet points. Camera Lucidas (what is the plural form of Camera Lucida?) are fascinating. There is a great book by Roland Barthe called "Camera Lucida" that is a meditation about photography and death - its a lot to take on and a difficult read, but a great book.
ReplyDeleteLucida NOT Lucinda. Otherwise, nice article ;)
ReplyDelete