Camera obscura with frame to hold tissue paper for copying views by hand (no lens)

Made:: 1815-1825 in England

Camera obscura with frame to hold tissue paper for copying views by hand (no lens), c. 1820

The photographic camera evolved from the camera obscura, an artists’ drawing aid. This particular camera obscura was owned and used by one of the inventors of photography, William Henry Fox Talbot.

Details

Category:: Photographic Technology

Object Number:: 1937-342

Materials:: wood (unidentified), brass (copper, zinc alloy) and mirror-glass (silvered)

Measurements:: closed: 128 mm x 172 mm x 348 mm,

type:: optical drawing aid - camera obscura

credit:: Matilda Talbot

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