What is solargraphy

Solargraphy is a form of extremely long exposure photography. A simple pinhole camera containing photographic paper remains in the same position for days, months or even years. During this time the sun leaves visible paths across the paper. As the position of the sun changes throughout the year, the paths gradually move across the image. If you want to understand the photographic process in detail, read our complete guide to solargraphy and how it works.

Photography before modern solargraphy

The idea of recording the movement of the sun did not suddenly appear in the year 2000. Artists and photographers had previously experimented with long exposures and pinhole cameras. Documented experiments from the twentieth century already explored the possibility of recording solar movement over extended periods. What changed around the year 2000 was the development of a particularly simple method using photographic paper inside small pinhole cameras combined with digital scanning. This combination made extremely long exposures easier to create, digitise and share.

The beginning of the Solaris Project

The Solaris Project is one of the central points in the history of modern solargraphy. The project was initiated in 2000 by Sławomir Decyk, Paweł Kula and Diego López Calvín. Experiments connected with the project used cameras without lenses and very long exposures to record the changing paths of the sun. The photographic paper inside these cameras was exposed for periods ranging from months to years. The resulting images combined analogue photographic material with digital processing. After exposure, the paper negative could be scanned and digitally adjusted without following the normal photographic development process. This combination of analogue exposure and digital presentation became an important characteristic of solargraphy.

Why Solaris was important

The Solaris Project demonstrated that photography could work on a completely different timescale. Instead of capturing a fraction of a second, the camera could remain open for an entire season. Light was no longer only a tool for making an image. The movement and duration of light became the subject of the photograph itself. The project also encouraged photographers in different locations to experiment with the method. This international dimension would later become even more important through the work of Tarja Trygg.

Tarja Trygg discovers solargraphy

Finnish artist Tarja Trygg first encountered solargraphs in 2002 while participating in the international photography workshop Profile 2002 in Poland. The workshop was organised by the Poznań Academy of Arts. Trygg became fascinated by the possibility of seeing something that cannot normally be observed directly. The apparent path of the sun changes depending on latitude and time of year. A solargraph could make this movement visible in a single photograph.

The famous Helsinki solargraph

One of Tarja Trygg’s best known images was made in Helsinki in 2002. A self built pinhole camera remained on a balcony for approximately 180 days. The resulting image shows a large field of curved sun paths extending across the sky. The photograph became widely circulated and played an important role in bringing solargraphy to a wider audience. It also appeared in the online gallery connected with the Solaris Project.

From one camera to an international project

Tarja Trygg was interested in a simple question. What would the path of the sun look like when recorded from different places around the world The shape and angle of the sun paths depend strongly on geographical latitude. A camera in Finland therefore produces a very different pattern from a camera close to the equator. Trygg began sending small pinhole cameras to people in different countries. Participants installed the cameras in their own locations and later returned or shared the resulting images. This created a growing international network of solargraphy participants.

Tarja Trygg and solargraphy.com

The website solargraphy.com became closely associated with Tarja Trygg’s international project. It brought together solargraphs made at different latitudes and demonstrated how the same photographic method could produce very different images depending on geography, climate and season. The project also helped popularise the word solargraphy in English. Trygg has explained that she prefers the term solargraphy in English while using the Finnish term solarigrafia in her native language.

Solaris and Tarja Trygg are not the same project

This distinction is important when discussing the history of solargraphy. The Solaris Project was initiated in 2000 by Sławomir Decyk, Paweł Kula and Diego López Calvín. Tarja Trygg encountered the technique in Poland in 2002 and subsequently developed her own international solargraphy project. The two histories are connected, but they should not be treated as one project. Trygg’s work helped spread the technique internationally and created a network through which solargraphs from different parts of the world could be compared.

Solargraphy between art and science

Solargraphy exists between several fields. It is photography because light creates an image on photographic material. It is astronomy because the movement of the sun becomes directly visible. It can also be understood as an artistic experiment with time, landscape and chance. Researchers and scientific institutions have also used solargraphy to explore and communicate the apparent movement of the sun. Solargraphs have even been produced at astronomical observatories where the long exposure creates an unusual visual record of the sky and the surrounding landscape.

Why solargraphy spread through the internet

Solargraphy developed at a moment when digital communication was becoming increasingly important. The original exposure was analogue. The camera contained photographic paper and required no digital technology while it was outside. After the exposure, however, the image could be scanned and shared online. This made it possible for people in different countries to participate in the same photographic experiment. Solargraphy therefore combines an extremely slow method of image production with extremely fast digital distribution.

Solargraphy today

Today the basic principle remains remarkably simple. A lightproof container, a pinhole, photographic paper and enough time are still sufficient to make a solargraph. At the same time, different projects have developed their own approaches. Some focus on building cameras yourself. Others offer ready to use cameras. Some are educational projects while others understand solargraphy primarily as an artistic process.

The 7th Day and the continuation of participatory photography

The 7th Day continues the idea that a simple camera can connect people, places and long periods of time. The project uses prepared pinhole cameras containing photographic paper. Participants install their camera in a location of their choice and decide how long the exposure should last. Afterwards the exposed photographic paper is returned to the project. Every returned image is scanned and processed individually and can become part of the growing international archive. More than 13,000 people have participated in The 7th Day. The camera is therefore not only a photographic object. It is the starting point for participation in a larger artistic project. You can learn more about the Camera Obscura used by The 7th Day here.

From Solaris to contemporary solargraphy

The development of solargraphy shows how a very simple photographic principle can grow into an international form of artistic experimentation. The Solaris Project established an important foundation around the year 2000. Tarja Trygg expanded the idea through an international network beginning in 2002. Later artists, photographers, educational projects and commercial cameras continued to develop new ways of working with the technique. The fascination remains the same. A small camera is placed somewhere in the world and left alone. Months later it reveals a view of time that could never be seen with the human eye.

Frequently asked questions about the history of solargraphy

Who invented solargraphy

Modern solargraphy developed through several experiments rather than a single isolated invention. The Solaris Project initiated in 2000 by Sławomir Decyk, Paweł Kula and Diego López Calvín played an important role in establishing the method.

Did Tarja Trygg invent solargraphy

No. Tarja Trygg encountered the method in Poland in 2002. She subsequently became one of the most influential figures in spreading solargraphy internationally.

What was the Solaris Project

The Solaris Project was an artistic photography project initiated in 2000 that explored extremely long exposures and the paths of the sun using cameras without lenses and photographic material.

When did Tarja Trygg start working with solargraphy

Tarja Trygg first encountered solargraphy during the Profile 2002 photography workshop in Poland. Her well known Helsinki solargraph was also exposed in 2002.

What is solargraphy.com

Solargraphy.com became the online home of Tarja Trygg’s international solargraphy project and presented images produced in different parts of the world.

Sources and further reading

Tarja Trygg on Solargraphy at AlternativePhotography.com Aalto University research information about Solaris Aalto University information about Tarja Trygg and twenty years of solar photography

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What is solargraphy

Solargraphy is a form of extremely long exposure pinhole photography. A lightproof camera containing photographic paper is placed outdoors and remains in the same position for an extended period. Light enters through a very small pinhole and projects an inverted image of the outside world onto the photographic paper. Because the exposure lasts for such a long time, the movement of the sun becomes visible as a series of curved lines across the sky. Depending on the project, a solargraphy exposure can last a few days, several months or even several years.

How does solargraphy work

A solargraphy camera works according to the same basic principle as a camera obscura. Light passes through a very small opening into a dark container. On the opposite side there is a sheet of photographic paper. The pinhole projects the outside world onto this paper. Because the opening is extremely small, only a limited amount of light reaches the paper. This makes very long exposure times possible. The sun is much brighter than the rest of the scene. As it moves across the sky during the day, it leaves a visible trace on the photographic paper. The next day another trace appears. Over weeks and months these individual paths accumulate and create the characteristic pattern of a solargraph.

Why are there several lines in a solargraph

The sun follows a slightly different path through the sky every day because the position of the Earth in relation to the sun changes throughout the year. During summer the sun reaches a higher position in the sky. During winter its path is lower. A camera that remains in the same position for several months records this gradual change. This is why a long solargraph can contain a large band of curved lines. Clouds also become part of the image. When the sun disappears behind clouds, parts of a line can be interrupted or completely missing. Weather therefore becomes visible without being photographed in a conventional way.

How long does a solargraphy exposure take

There is no single correct exposure time for solargraphy. A camera can remain outside for only a few days. In this case only a small number of sun paths become visible. An exposure lasting several months records a much larger section of the changing solar path. Six month exposures are particularly popular because they can document the movement between the summer and winter solstice. Some solargraphy cameras remain in position for a year or even longer. The longer the exposure lasts, the more important the location and stability of the camera become.

Which direction should a solargraphy camera face

The direction of the camera determines which part of the sun path appears in the final image. In the Northern Hemisphere a solargraphy camera is usually pointed toward the southern part of the sky. In the Southern Hemisphere the opposite direction is generally used. The exact angle depends on the location, the field of view of the camera and the composition you want to create. A building, tree, mountain or horizon in the foreground can give the sun paths a visual reference and make the image easier to understand.

What kind of camera is used for solargraphy

A solargraphy camera can be extremely simple. Many photographers build cameras from metal cans, plastic containers or film canisters. The container only needs to be lightproof, weather resistant and large enough to hold a piece of photographic paper. A very small pinhole is made in one side of the camera. The photographic paper is placed opposite the opening. Ready to use solargraphy cameras are also available for people who do not want to construct and load their own camera.

What kind of photographic paper is used

Black and white photographic paper is commonly used for solargraphy. Normally this type of paper is designed to be exposed and then chemically developed in a darkroom. Solargraphy uses it in a very different way. During an extremely long exposure a visible image gradually forms directly on the paper. This means that the image can often be scanned without conventional chemical development.

Does solargraphy need chemical development

In most modern solargraphy processes the paper is not chemically developed. After the exposure the paper is removed from the camera and digitised. The original paper remains sensitive to light, so it must be handled carefully. Once the negative image has been scanned or photographed, it can be inverted digitally. Contrast, brightness and colour can then be adjusted. The exact workflow depends on the project. With The 7th Day, participants send the exposed photographic paper back to the project. Each image is then scanned and processed individually.

Why does solargraphy have colour

One of the most surprising aspects of solargraphy is colour. The photographic paper used for many solargraphs is actually black and white paper. Nevertheless, scanned solargraphs can contain blue, red, yellow, purple and green tones. These colours are created by the unusual conditions of an extremely long exposure and by changes in the photographic material. Temperature, humidity, exposure time and the properties of the paper can all influence the final appearance. This makes every solargraph difficult to predict.

What can a solargraph show

A solargraph records more than the movement of the sun. Permanent objects such as buildings, trees and mountains can remain visible because they stay in approximately the same position throughout the exposure. People, cars and other moving objects usually disappear because they are only present for a very small part of the total exposure time. The final image therefore creates an unusual relationship between things that remain and things that disappear.

Solargraphy as a form of art

Solargraphy is often presented as a photographic experiment, but it is also an artistic method. The photographer can decide where the camera is installed and how the landscape is framed. After that, much of the process is handed over to time, weather and chance. The final photograph cannot be completely controlled or repeated. This makes solargraphy very different from digital photography, where an image can be reviewed immediately after exposure.

Solargraphy and The 7th Day

The 7th Day is an international participatory art project based on the principle of the pinhole camera and extreme long exposure photography. Participants receive a prepared camera containing photographic paper. The camera can be attached to a house, tree or another stable location and exposed for days, months or even longer. After the exposure the photographic paper is sent back to The 7th Day. Every returned image is scanned and processed individually. The photograph can then become part of the growing international project archive. More than 13,000 people have already participated in the project. If you want to create your own long exposure image, you can learn more about the Camera Obscura participation set here.

The history of solargraphy

The modern development of solargraphy is closely connected with photographic experiments around the year 2000 and with artists including Sławomir Decyk, Paweł Kula, Diego López Calvín and Tarja Trygg. The Solaris Project and the later international work of Tarja Trygg helped spread the method around the world. You can read the complete story in our article about the history of solargraphy.

Frequently asked questions about solargraphy

What is solargraphy

Solargraphy is a form of extremely long exposure photography in which a pinhole camera records the movement of the sun over days, months or years.

How long should a solargraphy camera be exposed

An exposure can last from a few days to several years. Several months usually produce a large number of visible sun paths.

Does every line represent one day

Each visible path is created by the movement of the sun during a day. Clouds can interrupt the path, so not every day creates a complete line.

Do I need a darkroom for solargraphy

Not necessarily. Many solargraphy images are digitised directly without conventional chemical development.

Can I make a solargraphy camera myself

Yes. A simple lightproof container, photographic paper and a precisely made pinhole are enough to build a basic solargraphy camera.

Can I buy a ready to use solargraphy camera

Yes. Several ready to use solutions exist. Solarcan is one commercial option. The 7th Day offers a different approach in which the camera becomes part of an international participatory art project and the exposed image is professionally digitised after it is returned. You can read our detailed comparison of Solarcan and The 7th Day here.

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What is Solarcan

Solarcan is a ready to use pinhole camera created for solargraphy. The camera arrives preloaded with photographic paper and includes the components needed to install it outdoors. Once installed, the Solarcan can remain in position for days, weeks or months while the sun creates paths across the photographic paper inside. No conventional chemical development is required. After the exposure the user removes the photographic paper and scans it. The scanned negative is then inverted and adjusted using image editing software. Solarcan also operates an online gallery and a World Map where users can submit their results.

What is The 7th Day

The 7th Day is an international participatory art project using pinhole cameras and extreme long exposure photography. Participants receive a prepared Camera Obscura containing photographic paper. The camera can be attached to a house, tree or another stable location and exposed for a period chosen by the participant. This can be several days, several months or even years. After the exposure the photographic paper is sent back to The 7th Day. The project team scans and processes every returned image individually. The resulting photograph can then become part of the international project archive. More than 13,000 people have already participated in The 7th Day.

Solarcan and The 7th Day compared

What is the main difference between Solarcan and The 7th Day

The largest difference is not the basic camera technology. Both approaches use a simple pinhole camera and photographic paper. The difference is what happens after you create the exposure. With Solarcan, you remove the photographic paper yourself, scan it and digitally process the image. Solarcan provides instructions for scanning, inverting and adjusting the result. With The 7th Day, you return the exposed photographic paper to the project. The image is then scanned and processed individually by The 7th Day. This means you do not need your own scanner or experience with image editing to receive a finished digital image.

Do you have to scan a Solarcan yourself

Yes. Solarcan’s current instructions explain that the exposed photographic paper is removed from the camera and placed onto a scanner. The scan is then imported into image editing software where the colours are inverted and further adjustments can be made. This process gives users direct control over the digital result. It also means that you need access to a scanner or another suitable method of digitising the paper.

What happens to an image from The 7th Day

With The 7th Day, the physical negative returns to the project after the exposure. The project team scans every returned image and processes it individually. This is an important part of the concept. The final photograph is not only the result of a camera. It becomes part of an ongoing collection of images created by participants in different places and at different times.

Solarcan as a ready to use solargraphy camera

Solarcan has a clear advantage for people who want complete control over the process themselves. The camera is prepared in advance and the user installs it, retrieves the photographic paper, scans the image and decides how the final digital photograph should look. Solarcan also offers the Puck, a smaller reusable version of its solargraphy camera. The company has built a large community around submitted photographs, its online gallery and Solarcan World Map.

The 7th Day as a participatory art project

The 7th Day is designed around a different idea. The camera is only one part of the project. The location chosen by the participant, the duration of the exposure, the return of the negative and the later inclusion of the image in the project all form part of the experience. The final result connects an individual photograph with thousands of other images. For participants who want to make a solargraph but do not want to scan and edit the negative themselves, this workflow can also make the process easier.

Which option is better if you do not own a scanner

The 7th Day is particularly suitable if you do not have a scanner or do not want to process the photographic paper yourself. After the exposure you send the negative back and the project handles the digitisation and image processing. With a standard Solarcan, the user is responsible for scanning the exposed photographic paper and digitally developing the image.

Which option is better if you want to process the image yourself

Solarcan is a good choice for people who want to complete every stage themselves. You install the camera, retrieve the paper, scan it and make your own decisions about inversion, colour and contrast. This can be particularly interesting for photographers who already own a scanner and enjoy digital image processing.

Which option is better if you want to participate in an art project

The 7th Day was created specifically as a participatory art project. The goal is not only to provide a camera but to collect images made by people in different places and over different periods of time. The returned negatives connect individual participants with the wider project. If the idea of contributing to an ongoing international artwork is important to you, this is the central difference between The 7th Day and a conventional solargraphy product.

Solarcan community and World Map

Solarcan also has a strong community aspect. Users can submit photographs to the Solarcan website and images can appear in its online gallery and World Map. This provides an interesting overview of Solarcan images produced in different locations. The difference is that submitting the finished image is separate from the process of scanning and editing it.

Can you buy Solarcan in Germany

Yes. Solarcan ships internationally and currently lists stockists in Germany on its official website. If you are searching for a Solarcan alternative in Germany or elsewhere in Europe, The 7th Day offers a different workflow based around participation in an international art project and professional digitisation of the returned negative.

Is The 7th Day a Solarcan alternative

Yes, if you are looking for a ready prepared pinhole camera for extremely long exposure photography but want a different experience after the exposure. Both can produce images of the sun moving across the sky. Solarcan places more of the final process in the hands of the user. The 7th Day places the individual camera inside a larger participatory project and handles the scanning and digital processing after the negative is returned.

What if you want to build a solargraphy camera yourself

You do not necessarily have to buy either product. Solargraphy can be made with a simple homemade pinhole camera, photographic paper and a lightproof container. Building your own camera is one of the most direct ways to explore the technique and can be particularly useful for experiments and educational projects.

Solarcan or The 7th Day

The choice depends mainly on what you want from the project. If you want a ready to use camera and prefer to retrieve, scan and digitally process the image yourself, Solarcan provides a complete and established system. If you want your exposure to become part of an international participatory art project and prefer the scanning and image processing to be handled for you, The 7th Day offers a different approach. Both begin with the same fascinating idea. A tiny opening, a sheet of photographic paper and enough time can turn the movement of the sun into a photograph. If The 7th Day fits what you are looking for, you can get your own Camera Obscura participation set here.

Frequently asked questions about Solarcan alternatives

What is a good Solarcan alternative

The 7th Day is an alternative for people who want to create an extreme long exposure with a prepared pinhole camera while also participating in an international art project. The returned image is scanned and processed by the project.

Does Solarcan need chemical development

No. Solarcan uses photographic paper that can be scanned after the exposure without conventional chemical development.

Do I have to scan a Solarcan myself

Yes. Solarcan’s instructions describe removing the exposed paper, scanning it and digitally inverting the result.

Does The 7th Day scan my photograph

Yes. After you return the exposed negative, The 7th Day scans and processes the image individually.

Can Solarcan be reused

Solarcan offers the reusable Solarcan Puck as well as reload products for it.

Can The 7th Day camera be reloaded

Reload sets are available for participants who want to create another exposure.

Is Solarcan an art project

Solarcan combines photography, education, experimentation and a community gallery. The 7th Day differs because participation in an ongoing international art project is the central concept of the camera experience.

Sources and further information

Official Solarcan website Official Solarcan instructions Solarcan gallery and community images

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At The 7th Day, a pinhole camera remains in one place for days, weeks or even months, collecting light and time on a single sheet of photographic paper. Both In Time uses the same simple photographic technique, but follows a different idea. Here, an image is not created by one person alone, but between two people.

The camera has two openings. One person exposes the first half of the photographic paper. The camera is then passed on. At another place and at another time, a second person exposes the other half. This can happen days, weeks or even years later. Only when both exposures are complete does the shared image become visible. Both moments exist on the same negative and together form a single photograph.

Developing the image is also part of the project. The negative can be developed at home in a darkened kitchen using Caffenol. Instant coffee, vitamin C and washing soda are used for the process. A traditional darkroom is not required. The cameras are handmade in Stuttgart and individually tested.

Both In Time turns a simple pinhole camera into a photographic experiment about connection, distance and time. You can learn how the camera works and how a shared image is created at bothintime.com.

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No electronics, digital sensor or complex technology are required.

There is one fascinating detail: the projected image appears upside down and reversed from left to right.

This simple optical principle has been known for centuries and became one of the foundations of photography. It eventually led from the dark chamber to the photographic pinhole camera and the cameras we use today.

At The 7th Day, we still work with this principle. Our pinhole cameras contain no glass lens or electronics. They use only a tiny opening, photographic paper and time.

What does Camera Obscura mean?

The term Camera Obscura comes from Latin. “Camera” means chamber or room, while “obscura” means dark.

Camera Obscura therefore literally means dark chamber.

Early Camera Obscura devices could actually be entire rooms. The room was almost completely sealed from light, with only a small opening allowing daylight to enter. An image of the outside world then appeared on the opposite wall.

Over time, these rooms became smaller. Large chambers developed into portable boxes and optical devices, but the underlying principle remained the same.

How does a Camera Obscura work?

The Camera Obscura works because light travels approximately in straight lines.

Illuminated objects reflect light in many different directions. The tiny opening of a Camera Obscura restricts the amount of light that can enter the dark chamber.

The light rays cross at the opening. Light coming from the top of a building reaches the lower part of the projection surface. Light from the bottom reaches the upper part. The same process takes place from left to right.

The result is a real projection of the outside world that appears upside down and laterally reversed.

No computer, image sensor or conventional camera lens is required. A dark space, a small opening and light are enough to create the image.

Why is the Camera Obscura image upside down?

The inverted image is a direct result of the path travelled by the light.

Imagine a tree standing outside the Camera Obscura. Light reflected from the top of the tree travels through the small opening and reaches the lower part of the opposite surface. Light from the bottom of the tree travels upwards.

The light rays cross at the aperture. As a result, top becomes bottom and left becomes right.

This is one of the reasons a Camera Obscura is such a useful way to understand photography. The formation of an image can be observed directly without being hidden behind electronics or software.

Why does a Camera Obscura need a small hole?

The size of the opening affects both the brightness and sharpness of the image.

A larger hole allows more light to enter. The projection becomes brighter, but it also becomes less defined because more light rays overlap.

A smaller opening allows less light to enter. The image becomes darker, while its contours can become clearer.

However, an infinitely small hole would not produce an infinitely sharp image. When the aperture becomes extremely small, diffraction also begins to affect the light.

The ideal pinhole is therefore a compromise between brightness and image sharpness.

What is the difference between a Camera Obscura and a pinhole camera?

The terms Camera Obscura and pinhole camera are often used interchangeably today, but there is a useful distinction between them.

A traditional Camera Obscura creates a projection. You can see the image on a wall, screen or another surface, but the image is not automatically recorded.

A photographic pinhole camera uses the same optical principle but places light-sensitive material where the projection appears. This material can be photographic film, photographic paper or another photosensitive surface.

The projection can therefore become a photograph.

Put simply:

The Camera Obscura describes the fundamental optical principle. A photographic pinhole camera uses that principle to record an image.

Historical Camera Obscura devices did not always rely exclusively on a simple hole either. Later versions sometimes incorporated lenses and mirrors to produce a brighter or more convenient projection.

Who invented the Camera Obscura?

There is no single inventor of the Camera Obscura.

The optical phenomenon was observed, studied and developed by different people over many centuries.

Related observations were already known in antiquity. Centuries later, the scholar Ibn al-Haytham, also known in Europe as Alhazen, made important contributions to the study of light, vision and optics.

Leonardo da Vinci also described the Camera Obscura and compared its operation with the human eye.

Over the following centuries, the dark chamber developed into increasingly practical and portable optical instruments.

You can explore this development in more detail in our article about the history of the Camera Obscura.

What was the Camera Obscura used for?

Long before photographs could be permanently recorded, the Camera Obscura was already used in science, astronomy and art.

Artists could use the projected image as a reference for perspective and proportions. Landscapes, architecture and other subjects could be projected onto a surface and studied or traced more easily.

The optical principle was also useful for scientific observations.

In this sense, the Camera Obscura was a camera before photography existed. It could already create an optical image. What was still missing was a way to preserve that image permanently.

How did the Camera Obscura lead to photography?

The great challenge was not creating an image. The Camera Obscura had already been able to do that for centuries.

The challenge was making the image permanent.

In the early nineteenth century, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce experimented with light-sensitive materials inside a Camera Obscura. In 1816, he succeeded in producing photographic negatives, although these early images could not yet be permanently fixed.

Niépce continued his experiments and developed a different process. In 1826 or 1827, he created the photograph now known as View from the Window at Le Gras, generally regarded as the oldest surviving photograph made with a camera.

The temporary projection of the Camera Obscura had finally become a lasting photographic image.

What does a modern camera have in common with a Camera Obscura?

Centuries of technological development separate a simple Camera Obscura from a modern digital camera, but the fundamental idea is still related.

A modern camera also controls light entering a dark interior. Its lens focuses the incoming light and projects an image onto photographic film or an electronic image sensor.

The Camera Obscura reveals the same basic process in its simplest form.

That simplicity makes it one of the best ways to understand photography. An image does not begin with software, a screen or a smartphone. It begins with light.

Can a Camera Obscura take photographs?

Yes. When light-sensitive material is placed inside the Camera Obscura, the projection can be recorded photographically.

This is also the principle behind the cameras we use for The 7th Day.

Inside each of our pinhole cameras is a piece of black-and-white photographic paper. As soon as the pinhole is uncovered, the exposure begins. Light reaches the same piece of photographic paper for days, weeks or even months.

The result is very different from a conventional snapshot.

Stationary buildings and landscapes remain visible. People, cars and other moving objects may become blurred or disappear because they are only present for a small part of the total exposure.

The movement of the sun can leave particularly striking traces across the photographic paper.

A single photograph can therefore record not only a place, but also the passage of time.

Why do pinhole cameras need long exposure times?

Only a small amount of light can pass through a pinhole. Exposure times are therefore usually longer than those required by cameras using conventional lenses.

At The 7th Day, we deliberately use this characteristic.

Our cameras can remain in the same location for days, weeks, months or even longer. During that time, the surroundings continuously change. The sun moves across the sky, people come and go, weather conditions change and the light is never exactly the same.

The final photograph compresses these different moments into a single image.

Try a Camera Obscura yourself

You can experience the basic Camera Obscura principle using little more than a dark box and a tiny opening.

If you want to record an actual photograph instead of simply viewing a projection, you will also need light-sensitive material.

Our pinhole camera manual explains in more detail how our photographic Camera Obscura works, how to position the camera and how the exposure process works.

You can also participate directly in The 7th Day. Our cameras arrive preloaded with photographic paper. You choose a location, expose your image and return the photographic paper to us afterwards.

We digitize the original negative and create the final image.

Learn more about The 7th Day pinhole camera project.

Is the Camera Obscura still relevant today?

We obviously no longer need a Camera Obscura simply to take a photograph, but the principle remains relevant.

In education, it makes basic optics easy to understand. Museums and walk-in Camera Obscura installations allow visitors to experience the phenomenon directly. In contemporary photography and art, pinhole cameras create possibilities that are very different from digital photography.

This contrast is particularly interesting today.

Modern cameras and smartphones can create hundreds of photographs within minutes. A Camera Obscura can do almost the opposite: create a single image over days, weeks, months or even years.

More than 13,000 people from around the world have already experimented with this principle through The 7th Day.

The camera may be incredibly simple, but every resulting photograph is different.

Frequently asked questions about the Camera Obscura

Conclusion: The Camera Obscura reveals the origins of photography

The Camera Obscura shows photography in its simplest form.

A dark chamber, a tiny opening and light are enough to create an image.

Over centuries, this simple principle developed into the photographic pinhole camera, the analogue camera and eventually the sophisticated digital cameras we use today.

Yet the Camera Obscura can still show us something modern cameras often hide: the fundamental moment when light becomes an image.

Der Beitrag What is Camera Obscura? erschien zuerst auf The 7th Day

What Is a Camera Obscura?

A Camera Obscura is essentially a dark box with a tiny hole. Light passes through this hole and projects an inverted image of the outside world onto the opposite surface. This simple principle is the foundation of photography and was already studied by Leonardo da Vinci and Ibn al-Haytham. Later, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce used it to capture the world’s first photograph in 1826.

For a deeper introduction, visit our Camera Obscura guide.

Ready-Made Camera Obscura Models

If you want to start right away, you can buy a variety of Camera Obscura kits and models online. Shops and marketplaces like Etsy – Camera Obscura Kits offer beautifully crafted wooden cameras, ready to use with photo paper. These are perfect for beginners, hobby photographers, or as a creative gift.

DIY Camera Obscura Kits

For children, schools, or anyone who enjoys experimenting, DIY pinhole camera kits are a wonderful option. With a few simple parts, kids can assemble their own pinhole camera and discover how light creates images. It’s not only a creative activity but also a hands-on way to learn about optics.

Which Photo Paper to Choose?

To capture images inside the Camera Obscura, you’ll need light-sensitive photo paper. Black-and-white paper is often the best choice, as it allows for longer exposures and creates magical effects like solargraphy, where the path of the sun is recorded across the sky over weeks or months.

You can learn more about this fascinating technique in our article: soon available

Whether you buy a Camera Obscura or build your own, this simple optical device opens up a world of creativity. It is an excellent educational tool for children, a source of inspiration for artists, and a unique way for photographers to reconnect with the origins of photography.

Good to know: With most camera obscura cameras and DIY kits, the biggest hurdle comes after exposure: developing and digitizing the negative. You need to find a lab, buy chemicals, and scan the image. It takes time and adds extra costs.

With our Participation Set, that work disappears. You expose the photo and send it back. We handle professional development and high-resolution digitizing and deliver the final image to you. Everything is included in the price, no additional costs.

Join now: Participate

Der Beitrag Buy a Camera Obscura – What You Should Know erschien zuerst auf The 7th Day

Camera Obscura in Contemporary Art

Artists value the medium’s slowness and serendipity. Weeks- or months-long pinhole exposures produce solargraphs that trace the sun’s path, turning time itself into an image. Our project The 7th Day invites people worldwide to place simple pinhole cameras; returned results become part of a growing archive—a collective artwork about time and light.

Camera Obscura in Education

In classrooms and workshops, building a pinhole camera with simple materials reveals how light forms images. For many young makers it’s a first encounter with analog photography—sparking curiosity and bridging science and art.

The Millennium Camera – Photographing the Next 1,000 Years

A striking contemporary example is artist and experimental philosopher Jonathon Keats’s Millennium Camera: a radically durable pinhole camera that exposes a single image over roughly a millennium to register landscape change.

• In 2015, the ASU Art Museum in Tempe, Arizona, installed a Millennium Camera slated to be unveiled in 3015, aimed at the city skyline to condense a thousand years of urban transformation into one photograph. (news.asu.edu, Atlas Obscura, PetaPixel)
• In 2024, another Millennium Camera was sited in Tucson (Tumamoc Hill) with University of Arizona collaborators. Light passes through a pin-sized hole in 24-karat gold into a copper cylinder, gradually fading layered rose-madder oil pigments to form an image—meant to be opened about a thousand years from now. (University of Arizona News, New Atlas, Smithsonian Magazine)
• Coverage by outlets such as Hyperallergic frames the project as the world’s slowest photograph and a prompt to consider our responsibilities to future generations. (Hyperallergic, aau.edu)

Together, these works show how the camera obscura operates today as art, inquiry, and civic imagination.

Camera Obscura as a Source of Inspiration

Even in the age of smartphones, the camera obscura reminds us that photography exceeds technique. It’s an exploration of light, time, and perception—from art history and creative projects to playful experiments for kids.

For further context on ultra-long exposures and what’s been achieved to date, see documented records of years-long pinhole photographs. (National Geographic, My Modern Met)

Art Project “Camera Obscura 2005/1–∞”
A compelling net-art initiative is Camera Obscura 2005/1–∞, launched in 2005 by Przemek Zajfert and Burkhard Walter and dedicated to Roman Opałka. It uses a twin-pinhole camera: each week the two “holes” were auctioned on eBay; the highest bidders received the same camera loaded with 5×7-inch film, pierced their pinhole with a supplied needle, made an exposure, and passed the camera on. Because the two openings are very close together, the two exposures partially overlap, forming a joint image created by people in different places—a global puzzle of parallel exposures. The series is documented online and intended for physical display as well. Project site: http://www.camera-obscura-1-inf.net.

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Far from obsolete, the camera obscura bridges past and present. Its simplicity makes it accessible; its results continue to surprise. And with visionary efforts like the Millennium Camera, the medium looks boldly toward the year 3015 and beyond. (Hyperallergic)

Der Beitrag Camera Obscura Today – Art, Education and Photo Projects erschien zuerst auf The 7th Day

The human eye

In the eye, the eyeball acts as the chamber, the pupil regulates the amount of light, and the retina serves as the projection surface. Similarly, the Camera Obscura allows light through a pinhole into a lightproof box, where it forms an image on the back wall or on photosensitive paper. In both cases, the image appears inverted and mirrored – a phenomenon that puzzled scientists for centuries until the Camera Obscura made the mechanics visible.

The Camera Obscura

The differences, however, are significant. Unlike the simple pinhole of the Camera Obscura, the eye has a lens that continuously focuses and adjusts, providing sharp and detailed vision. Moreover, the eye does not merely project light; it translates it into electrical signals, which the brain interprets into coherent images. The Camera Obscura, by contrast, shows a direct, unprocessed projection – an optical truth untouched by interpretation.

This comparison was revolutionary in the history of science. The Camera Obscura demonstrated that the image on the retina is indeed inverted, and that it is the brain’s task to correct and interpret it. It bridged the gap between optics and biology, offering a tangible model for understanding how we see.

Today, the Camera Obscura is more than a scientific analogy. In art projects like The 7th Day, the same principle is used to capture long exposures that reveal traces of time and light invisible to the human eye. While our eyes capture the present moment, the Camera Obscura preserves the continuum of time, offering us a vision that goes beyond natural perception.

Der Beitrag Camera Obscura and the Human Eye erschien zuerst auf The 7th Day

After several days of exposure, an image slowly appeared: the outlines of a house, rooftops, and trees – inverted and in negative tones. This was the first photograph in the world. But Niépce faced a problem: without a fixing process, the paper continued to darken when exposed to light, and the image eventually vanished. He called this early method “Retina”, inspired by the human eye.

A few years later, Niépce made a breakthrough with bitumen of Judea applied to a pewter plate. In 1826 or 1827, he created the first permanent photograph, famously known as the View from the Window at Le Gras. This image is considered the true starting point of the history of photography. You can read more in our article On the Trail of Joseph Nicéphore Niépce.

From Historical Experiment to Contemporary Art

The Camera Obscura has never lost its magic. In our project The 7th Day, we build simple pinhole cameras and use long exposure photography to capture not just a moment, but the passage of time. Just like in Niépce’s early experiments, still objects remain sharp, while the movement of the sun, clouds, or people leaves only traces or ghostly shadows.

The world’s first photograph was not only the beginning of a technological revolution, but also an artistic reflection on transience and the way we perceive reality.

Der Beitrag Camera Obscura – The World’s First Photograph erschien zuerst auf The 7th Day

The Seventh Day: Silver, Lavender, Asphalt, Sun and Time

Why restraint makes you creative and free

What happens when, instead of taking one thousand snapshots, you make just one image and expose it for days, weeks, or even months? The artist and photographer Przemek Zajfert shows in his TEDx Talk how radical reduction, a pinhole camera, light, and a lot of patience lead to surprising freedom. His project The 7th Day is a poetic invitation to rediscover time as a design material.

What the talk is about

In the talk, Przemek Zajfert speaks about a simple, almost magical tool, the Camera Obscura. A light tight can, a tiny hole, a light sensitive sheet of paper, that is all you need. No lens, no display, no autofocus. Instead of snapping in milliseconds, you let the world act on it for a long time, hours, days, sometimes months. The result is not the crisp moment we know from smartphones but a condensation of time. In the images, the paths of the sun appear as arcs, changes in the weather weave textures into the sky, and even small coincidences, spider silk, pollen, raindrops, become co authors.

This attitude, less technology, more attention, is the core of The 7th Day. People around the world mount their home made pinhole cameras on windows, fences, or lamp posts, wait patiently, and then share a single image that shows time like a landscape. From many individual contributions a collective memory of places, seasons, and light emerges.

The five words in the title and what they mean

Silver: In analog photography, silver halides react to light. In the pinhole camera this quiet chemistry lives in the paper as well. It makes invisible duration visible.

Lavender and asphalt: A small bow to the early days of photography. Joseph Nicéphore Niépce experimented with bitumen that hardens in sunlight, dissolved in lavender oil. From this mixture came heliography, one of the oldest photographic techniques. An early proof that patience and sun are enough.

Sun and time: Both are the real lens in the project. The sun traces its path day by day. Time lets structures grow that we overlook in everyday life.

How The 7th Day works in three simple steps

Fix the pinhole camera: A small box without a lens, with a pin sized hole, firmly mounted in one place. Inside lies light sensitive photographic paper.

Expose for a long time: Outside, a few days often suffice, faster in summer, longer in winter, indoors rather weeks. Overexposure is surprisingly rare. Time distributes light like a fine brush.

Make the image visible: The paper is removed and digitized. What appears is a portrait of time, not a single moment but what happens between moments.

Why this approach matters today

Slowing down instead of point and shoot: In a world full of burst shots, the pinhole camera reminds us that waiting can be a creative method. Once you mount the camera, you start to think about direction, season, and rhythm.

Democratic and accessible: You do not need expensive gear. The project shows that curiosity and patience are enough to make art. It is ideal for schools, workshops, clubs, or curious individuals.

A new look at place: Long exposure reveals qualities that escape the quick eye. How does the weather move, where does the light travel, what traces does everyday life leave.

Want to get started yourself?

You only need a light tight can, a pin prick, and photographic paper. Find a spot with an open view to the sky, mount the camera so it resists the weather, mark the start date, and let time do the work. The first result is rarely perfect but almost always surprising. With every attempt your feel for location, angle, and duration grows.

Der Beitrag The 7th Day at TEDx erschien zuerst auf The 7th Day