At its core definition, a camera is any machine that focuses and records light onto some shareable medium. After all, if the result of a machine cannot be shared it has not performed any function. At least not as a camera. Wouldn’t that just be a lens?

If I could send you this wall, I suppose this would be a camera too…

So we now have to understand the compentns that are required.

There are 3 main components to a modern camera. They are the Lens, the Shutter, and the film or digital ssensor. In other words, you need to be able to focus the light into the box. A shutter to open and close to control the time the light exists. And you need the film or sensor to record the data.

The lens can be a pin hole or it can be a cylinder with a complex array of glass or plastics engineered to control and shape light towards the sensor. Maintaining the accuracy and consistency of transferring this light begins to explain the cost of higher end lenses. But the atmospheric or artistic beauty of an image is not directly connected to the quality of the lens itself. It’s primary purpose is focusing light, not making things beautiful or imbuing meaning.

The shutter is the door through which this light passes. We likely use the verb “capture” in photography because physical mediums do not allow for moving representations of reality. Physical mediums are only able to present static images. They are 2 dimensional (conceptually) and cannot represent passing of time or movement literally. Therefore we must not only control the shape or accuracy of light, but the duration of that moment. If we leave a shutter door open for an hour, everything passing in front of that camera for that hour is recorded on top of each other. What about movies? They are a sequence of still images. Not an experience of light itself over time! If we think about the nuance in which we record our experiences with our eyes, brains, and memories, it’s actually incomprehensible that we can decode anything at all. Our minds exist in time - they record and are aware of events, not images. Cameras cannot do this. They operate moment to moment. How long of a moment? We get to control that. At least within the parameters of the camera itself.

Finally we have the medium. This is probably the loosest definition. From projections on a wall to wet chemical laden metal plates to emulsified strips of film to complex digital sensors of various compositions and technologies - we have been more experimental when it comes to the recording medium itself. Every medium has its pros and cons, its advantages and its short comings. And working and understanding each is essential - at least understanding at a minimum the medium in which you choose to work is anyways. If you have a digital camera, you really should know how the digital sensor works, what its good at, and what it simply cannot do. The same for film or tin types or cyanotypes or calodon or whatever. No medium can do what the human eye and brain can do. We work within the confines of the machine itself. But there is so much we can do in that space!

All three must work in sync to result in an image. That image is the subject of rigorous discourse as far as art is concern. But all of this must result in an image of some kind for us to share. That is the very basic goal. I see something. I want to capture it. I use this magic box that has 3 parts. And whatever happens as far as my skill is concerned, i have to end up with an object (or digital image) for my time and effort.

Thoughts

What is a camera