Noun
An apparatus in which the images of external objects, formed by a convex lens or a concave mirror, are thrown on a paper or other white surface placed in the focus of the lens or mirror within a darkened chamber, or box, so that the outlines may be traced.
An apparatus in which the image of an external object or objects is, by means of lenses, thrown upon a sensitized plate or surface placed at the back of an extensible darkened box or chamber variously modified; -- commonly called simply the camera.
Source: Webster's dictionaryThe "natural magic” of the camera obscura anticipated Hollywood in turning the spectacle of the external world into a consumer commodity or package. Marshall McLuhan
Rape is a crime against sleep and memory; it's afterimage imprints itself like an irreversible negative from the camera obscura of dreams. Pat Conroy
Gernsheim, pg. 5 The scientist Robert Hooke presented a paper in 1694 to the Royal Society, in which he described a portable camera obscura. Source: Internet
Around the year 1800, Thomas Wedgwood made the first known attempt to capture the image in a camera obscura by means of a light-sensitive substance. Source: Internet
A freestanding room-sized camera obscura in the shape of a camera. Source: Internet
Daguerre contributed an improved camera obscura design, but the partnership ended when Niépce died in 1833. Source: Internet