What is so obscure about a camera obscura?
“Obscure” is derived from the Latin “osbscura” meaning “dark”. “Camera” is Latin for “room” or “chamber”. The camera obscura (“dark chamber”) was an early form of optical imaging device where you sat in a small, dark room with a pinhole to let light in — forming an image of the scene, upside-down on the far wall. Later photographic inventions retained the word “camera”.
