A camera obscura (Latin: "dark chamber") is an optical device that led to photography and

the photographic camera. The device consists of a box or room with a hole in one side.

Light from an external scene passes through the hole and strikes a surface inside, where

it is reproduced, rotated 180 degrees (thus upside-down), but with color and perspective

preserved. The image can be projected onto paper, and can then be traced to produce a

highly accurate representation.