The camera obscura (from Latin, camera meaning “room” or “chamber”, and obscura meaning “dark”) is a light-tight space with a small opening in one wall. Through this opening, light enters and projects an image of the outside world onto the opposite surface inside the darkened space.

This simple device is considered the earliest precursor to the photographic camera and is based on the same optical principle that governs human vision.

Every illuminated object reflects light rays that travel in straight lines in all directions. When these rays pass through a small opening into a dark room, they are concentrated and form a projected image on the opposite wall, much like light passing through the eye and forming an image on the retina.

Because of the laws of optics, the projected image appears inverted and upside down, a detail that often surprises first-time viewers and makes the experience both educational and poetic.

The scientific explanation of this phenomenon was first described by Ibn al-Haitham, also known as Alhazen. Later, artists and scientists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Johannes Kepler used the camera obscura as a tool for observation, study, and artistic exploration.