Not Your Average Camera…
Finally back at the helm with a few interesting observations from our last cruising season cruising. Now I know this isn’t exactly textile talk but….
We arrived in Greenport in August on a grey and stormy day. As always, we were seeking shelter and deep water. Greenport village had it all – history, friendly people, a boutique brewery and one of a number of curiosities, a camera obscura.
Camera obscura,” meaning darkened room” is an optical device with a long history; Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BC) is said to have been familiar with the concept. Essentially, it is a device enabling an image of surroundings to be projected onto a screen; colour and perspective are conserved. So, it’s hardly surprising that Leonardo da Vinci knew of it. By the time artists were travelling and sketching “en plein air” in the 18th c, the camera obscura had assumed more modest and portable proportions. I am sure we made one using a shoe box at school too (but that wasn't in the 18th c!).
So, why was I interested? Well, the camera obscura was indeed a pre-curser to the invention of one of my favourite bits of kit – a camera. And then, there’s Grand Designs. Yes, Kevin McCloud had taken us on a tour of a London build “The Jewel Box” in his second series of "Grand Designs". The owners had incorporated a camera obscura into specially designed blinds, which allowed an image of the house to be projected onto a wall in their studio. Amazing stuff!
Sadly, the camera obscura in Greenport’s Mitchell Park was closed on the day we visited. Good light is a pre-requisite and those storm clouds were still lurking about as you can see from our photos! One day, I’ll find one and it will be open…
