The Claude Glass: Instagram in the 18th Century ⇥

Anna Laurent:

The Claude glass was a sort of early pocket lens without the camera and it was held aloft to observe a vista over one’s shoulder. The technology was simple: A blackened mirror reduced the tonal values of its reflected landscape, and a slightly convex shape pushed more scenery into a single focal point, reducing a larger vista into a tidy snapshot.

Beautiful images. I would love to get my hands on one of these. Via Jason Kottke.