Camera Lucida

The clear camera, also known as the “camera lucida”, is a device invented by the British physicist and chemist William Hyde Wollaston in 1806. Its function is the same as the camera obscura, that is, to capture a latent image of reality in order to draw it. It is formed by a glass prism and a lens placed on a vertical axis, which is fixed to a drawing board. By placing the gaze on a specific point of the prism, the latent image of the person or object in front of us that we want to draw can be seen by reflection on the paper placed on the table and under the device. The camera lucida is a lightweight and transportable device, which does not require special lighting conditions.