Aztec Camera

As you can probably imagine, this has been bubbling under in my mind and possibly yours too since 1982. Well, now it finally sees the light of day.

The device has a parabolic mirror carved out of a block of obsidian. This focuses the light from the scene before it onto a second flat obsidian mirror at some distance from the first one, at an angle of forty-five degrees. This reflects the image into a darkened stone chamber onto a flat wall which is periodically covered in amatl - Mesoamerican paper made from fig bark used for codices. The image is then inked in by someone sitting in the darkness using a combination of Maya blue (which was used by Aztecs), nocheztli (cochineal), xochipalli (yellow pigment) and nacazcolotl (black ink).

The entire assemblage consists of a paved flat surface west of the rest of the apparatus while avoiding any shadows cast, the parabolic mirror facing the scene, the smaller mirror on a pedestal at the focal point of the larger mirror and a darkened camera in which the artist sits. In order to take a picture, the painter goes into the chamber shortly before dawn with the necessary pigments and places a sheet of amate in the requisite position on the back wall. This allows the eyes to adapt to the dark. Shortly after sunrise, the object to be depicted is placed at the correct distance from the parabolic mirror, leading to an image forming on the amate. The occupant of the camera then fills in the image, leaving it to dry and the result is something vaguely resembling a photo.

For my next trick I shall describe the merits and techniques required for building and living in a Prefab Sprout.