Camera Obscura Brick Shell
Architectural Photography:
Julian Parkinson
Location:
Cheverie, Nova Scotia
Date:
2011-2012
Description:
This parabolic brickshell frames the tidal landscape, acting as a camera obscura, a device which records the rising tides of the salt marsh at the mouth of the river. The pavilion utilizes the layering of brick tiles to create three outer arch-shaped, self-supporting walls and an indoor oval-shaped room that shelters the camera obscura. The camera obscura is found as a darkened room with a small mirror in an outside wall. As light from the exterior passes through the small opening, the tidal scene is projected, upside down, onto the interior floor. These images are approximately two meters in diameter. Observation is enhanced by the introduction of various markers, real time measuring devices, and objects recording points in recent tidal and solar cycles or recent weather events. This recording process is vital as these fifty-foot tides are only seen for a few hours a day. In addition, the brickshell functions as both a small outdoor theatre for nature talks and as a trail beacon which can be seen as one meanders through the seven-hectare site.