The Camera And The Eye

A photographic camera basically works like the human eye. The Camera has a body, formerly known as “camara oscura”, so the human eye, which is simply called eye ball. Like a camera body, it is dark inside and has a layer of sensitive cells lining the eye ball inner wall. This layer of sensitive cells is known as retina, which can be likened to the film in a film camera.

Yes, a camera has a lens, or set of lenses, that one replaces depending on how far the object you want to take a picture of is. So the human eye also has a lens, which is held in place by the ciliary muscle. When this tiny muscle contracts change the shape of the lens, as when you change the focus of your attention from a near object to a distant one.

The image is focused upside down on the photographic film, which is later developed and printed on paper. So, the images of reality we see daily are focused upside down, too, on our retina. The pictures are then transmitted through the optic nerve to our brain where we assess them, objectively or subjectively, depending on the degree of sanity or insanity of the human mind. Just like in a digital camera when we alter the images from reality with a computer program if we do not like what we see. So, to document reality, it is better a film camera, for you can not change the picture on the negative no matter how insane you are.

Comparison between a camera and a human eye