An Illustrated History Of The Camera

From the Camera Obscura to the Polaroid, see the rapid evolution of cameras over 150 years.

In a day when lens-equipped smartphones have all but replaced actual cameras, it's easy to feel nostalgic for the ritual of loading a film cartridge and waiting for the images to develop. To fuel that nostalgia, here's a brief illustrated history of the photographic camera, designed by Retrofuturismo-Kitsch. From the age-old Camera Obscura to Talbot's Mousetrap of 1835 to the Sony Mavica of 1981, the infographic offers stylized images of 48 contraptions, each of which were, of course, cutting-edge at the time.

Read Full Story