Charles Schwartz - New York Camera Obscura | LensCulture

The ephemeral projections of a camera obscura have fascinated artists since the 15th century. Charles Schwartz and Bill Westheimer have been exploring the wonders of the camera obscura in modern upper Manhattan — playing with perspective, surface, the effects of the sun — and capturing the results with digital photography. The location of their camera obscura is fixed, yet it provides a dizzying, ever-changing view of the city's activities, architecture and landscape. This work is not as iconic as the celebrated images of Abelardo Morrell; it captures more fleeting moments, with the intensity of a distinctly personal gaze from a high, darkened room.

Their work was featured in a group show, "Contemporary Obscurists: The Camera Obscura in Contemporary Photography" at Alan Klotz Gallery in New York, September 15 - November 12, 2006. The wide-ranging exhibition also included images by Stephen Berkman, Rebecca Cummins, Vera Lutter, Abelardo Morrell, and Shi Guorui.

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