Camera Obscura Assignment: by Caroline Green

 Pearce Lodge at University of Glasgow

 The Wellington Church at University of Glasgow

 North Front of the Quadrangle at University of Glasgow

 The Quadrangle at University of Glasgow

 The Quadrangle at University of Glasgow

note: left side of image appears distorted due to movement of the trees

 The Cloisters at University of Glasgow

 South Front of the Quadrangle at University of Glasgow

Lion and Unicorn Staircase at University of Glasgow

“This it is that guides the human discourse to the considering of divine things.  Here the figures, here the colors, here all the images of every part of the universe are contracted to a point.  O what a point is so marvelous!” –Leonardo DaVinci (b. 1452 – 1519)

            DaVinci’s comments on the camera obscura personify just how amazing and technologically advanced it was at his time.  Even now, when photography is so digital and automatic, the fact that an image can be produced with only a lens, some cardboard, and a plastic bag seems almost magical.  The science behind the magic, however, is fairly straightforward.

            The camera obscura was used to further both art and scientific discovery.  This, as well as the fact that the construction requires both scientific and artistic principles, proves that it truly is a fusion of the two fields.  Both artists, such as Canaletto and Rembrandt, as well as scientists, such as DaVinci and William Hunter, employed the camera obscura.  In constructing the camera obscura, the builder must have a basic idea of the optic principles behind producing an image.  They also must use artistic principles in order to capture the world around them in an interesting and aesthetically pleasing way.

            Many renaissance painters used the camera obscura as an aide to their work.  For example, Johannes Vermeer (b. 1632 – 1675) is thought to have used a camera to trace parts of his paintings.  Some of the aspects of his paintings that have come to be known as his distinctive style could be a result of optical effects.  These include the accentuated perspective and the heightened sense of light and color, especially the halation of highlights (Groen, 2007).  An example of Vermeer’s possible use of a camera obscura is the softness of contours especially seen in Girl with a pearl earring, which could be the result of an incorrectly focused lens (Groen, 2007).  Other painters who are thought to have used the camera obscura include Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (b. 1571 – 1610), Cannaletto (b. 1697 – 1768), Rembrandt van Rijn (b. 1606 – 1669), as well an many other lesser known artists.

            Painters during this time were fascinated by the camera obscura because of its ability to produce such sharp images with rich colors.  In addition, it could be used to trace the subject in order to achieve a heightened sense of realism in the painting.  The camera obscura was especially used to record the built environment with a higher level of accuracy as well as to copy or rerecord historical works of art. 

            In using my own camera obscura to observe the built environment, I have developed a greater appreciation for painters who used the device, as well as those who didn’t.  Before the camera obscura was invented and widely used, the only other ways of drawing or painting were by using the Cartesian grid, which was a lengthy process, or by eye.  Comparing the accuracy of those pieces done by eye to those done with the aid of a camera obscura, they would seem to be much less skilled.  However, when you consider how hard it is to achieve that amount of accuracy by eye, it is really quite impressive.  Similarly, the artists who did use the camera obscura must have invested huge amounts of time and effort to achieve the amount of hyperrealism that they did.  I certainly would not have that much patience and attention to detail, even if I was tracing an image.

            The camera obscura began as a purely scientific device that evolved into an artistic aid and eventually, an artistic object itself.  It was the forerunner of the camera as we know it now.  The camera obscura had a huge impact on painting and the visual arts, as well as many social implications, both good and bad.  But, as DaVinci said, it prompts us as human being to consider and discuss ‘divine things’, which can only lead to the improvement of the human experience.

Karin Groen. (2007). Painting Technique in the Seventeenth Century in Holland and the Possible Use of the Camera Obscura by Vermeer. Inside the Camera Obscura – Optics and Art under the Spell of the Projected Image. Wolfgang Lefèvre (ed.)