Camera Obscura around Europe
Written by Andy Hayes
Do you know what a camera obscura is?
Playing Around in Edinburgh’s Camera Obscura – Copyright Andrew Hayes
According to Wikipedia, it can be defined as
The camera obscura (Latin dark chamber) is an optical device used…for entertainment…. The principle can be demonstrated with a box with a hole in one side (the box may be room-sized, or hangar sized). Light from a scene passes through the hole and strikes a surface where it is reproduced, in color, and upside-down. The image’s perspective is accurate. The image can be projected onto paper, which when traced can produce a highly accurate representation…. Some camera obscura have been built as tourist attractions, often taking the form of a large chamber within a high building that can be darkened so that a ‘live’ panorama of the world outside is projected onto a horizontal surface through a rotating lens.
I would like to just call them “really fun places to play about with illusions, photography, and imagery”. While these modern day attractions are sometimes regarded as child’s play, the reality is that not only photography lovers but anyone who wants to put a smile on their face should check out one of the many camera obscuras left in Europe. Two of the most notable ones include (the links open up the attraction website):
- Edinburgh (the city’s oldest purpose built tourist attraction)
- Cadiz (built into a beautiful watchtower)
There is another Camera Obscura in Scotland in Kirriemuir. There are also camera obscuras in Wales (Aberystwyth), England (Bristol, Portslade Village, Kentwell Hall), Germany (Marburg), and Hungary (Eger).
Camera Obscura, Kirriemuir
I encourage you to check out your local guide and pop in if there is a camera obscura nearby – it will be well worth your time for the smile you’ll have when you leave.
Have you been to a Camera Obscura? Where – and how was it?
[...] to my blog, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!Since Andy wrote about Camera Obscura around Europe for the Europe a la Carte blog earlier this year, I’ve thought that I really must visit the [...]
I’d like to mention the one within Burns Corridor Karen.
Easy to reach by train, bus and car: Dumfries Camera Obscura.
“The camera obscura in the Observatory in Dumfries, Scotland is on the top level of an old windmill that was converted in 1836 by Dumfries & Maxelltown Astronomical Society”
http://brightbytes.com/cosite/2dumfries.html
Georr – I didn’t even know that there was a Camera Obscura in Dumfries, I must try to visit next time I’m in that area.
It’s your original Flat screen, High Definition, colour pictures Karen. A lot better than we expected.
I second the previous recommendations on Dumfries camera obscura. Well worth a visit. One on the meridian line at Greenwich Observatory too, although unmanned and difficult to keep the room dark.
I want to build one in my dream house by the sea :-)
Andy, may I suggest that you purchase the Arthur Memorial Church on Castle Hill, New Cumnock, Ayrshire, which has a tower which could hold a Camera Obscura and would survey three glens: Nith Valley (Robert Burns), Glen of Afton (Robert Burns), and Glaisnock Valley. It would show you Corsencon Hill which Burns nicknamed Parnassus Hill; three lochs; and Black Craig which hid both Wallace and Bruce during the Scottish Wars of Independence.
It also would give you views of the Knockshinnoch Lagoons wetlands reserve and is the gateway to the said Lagoons and the 17th century Auld Kirk.
What more could you ask for?
The church is in memory of the Arthurs, one of whom held the CSI medal.