“Art is not found by traveling to Egypt, China or Peru; if you don't find it at your door, you will never find it." -Ralph Waldo Emerson. Although many may think it is a waste of time and money, photography is a great hobby that people should try. However, even if someone has different opinions, they must consider that photography is increasingly on its way to becoming an everyday use around the world and is already part of American culture. Who contributed to the creation of the modern camera in the past? In ancient times, around the 5th century BC, the beginning of the camera was the use of a camera obscura, from the Greek meaning “dark room”. A dark room is a dark room that has a small hole in a wall or other covered opening, and through that opening comes light showing the outside world upside down. The first recorded use of a camera obscura was by the Chinese philosopher named Mo-Ti, who recorded using a pinhole in the wall of a dark room to create the image. He personally called the room a "gathering place" and a "locked treasure room." The darkroom was used for many years; the foundations of the camera did not change much, until around the 16th century. In the 1500s, Giovanni Battista Della Porta is said to have developed a better form of the camera obscura by adding a convex lens to make the image clearer and of better quality, and later, a mirror to view the image on a flat surface. In his book Magiae Naturalis, written in 1558, John recommended this variant of the device to artists, since it could be used as an aid in drawing subjects or scenes. Although used for numerous years, the device had never had a real name until the early 17th century, which… middle of paper… could never have described it. These messages can help make the world a better place, if used in the right place and at the right time. Works Cited Wilgus, Jack and Beverly. “The Magic Mirror of Life: An Appreciation of the Camera Obscura.” http://brightbytes.com/cosite/what.html. (accessed 5 March 2010). Unknown, author. "PhotoQuotes.com." http://www.photoquotes.com/showquotes.aspx?id=375&name=Emerson,Ralph (accessed March 13, 2010)Unknown, Author. "Foto.net." 1996. http://photo.net/history/timeline (accessed 30 April 2010). Multiple authors. photography's oxford companion. Edited by Robin Lenman, Sylvie Aubenas, Quentin Bajac, Jane Carmichael, Elizabeth Edwards, John Falconer, Mark Haworth-Booth et al. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005.Grimm, Tom and Michele Grimm. The basic photography book. New York, NY: Penguin Group, 1997.