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The Claude Glass Changed the Way People Saw Landscapes

52 points by Hooke 6y ago

sanj 6y ago
A physical manifestation of Instagram filters!
- mensetmanusman 6y ago
  That’s what it sounds like, but also just useful to look at and paint: https://www.waikereru.org/assets/images/news/claude-glass.jpg https://www.waikereru.org/assets/images/news/claude-glass.jp...
cs702 6y ago
See also: https://petapixel.com/2012/04/29/claude-glass-the-18th-century-version-of-instagram/ https://petapixel.com/2012/04/29/claude-glass-the-18th-centu...
pruthvishetty 6y ago
First recorded use of AR.
privong 6y ago
I first heard about Claude Glass while reading "Landmarks"[0] by Robert Macfarlane. While Claude Glass was only briefly mentioned, "Landmarks" itself is one of those wonderfully deep books that invites slow reading. The richness of nature language (that we seem to be losing) has been rewarding for me to explore through Macarlane's experience. I paid attention to nature before, but since starting to read "Landmarks" I have more regularly zoomed in on details and how features of the landscape vary subtly from place to place. [0] - https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/536563/landmarks-by-robert-macfarlane/ https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/536563/landmarks-by... Edit: Fixed author's first name. Thanks @zzleeper!
- zzleeper 6y ago
  *Robert Macfarlane. For a second I thought John had added being an accomplished writer as a side gig to philosophy and coding
twic 6y ago
This makes me think of circular polarizers, and the effect they have on skies and landscapes, which is well-known to photographers but perhaps not to the general public: https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/uk/tutorials/use-a-polarizing-filter-to-get-stunning-skies-in-your-landscape-photography https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/uk/tutorials/use-a-polari... I wonder if this is something that could be incorporated into smartphone cameras quite easily.
- privong 6y ago
  > I wonder if this is something that could be incorporated into smartphone cameras quite easily. I imagine it'd be straightforward to put a circular polarizer in front of a smartphone camera lens. But people might not like the 1-1.5 stops of light lost because of how it would affect/limit low-light photography. I suspect the latter is more important to most people than the effect of a polarizer on sky color in a photo.
- renewiltord 6y ago
  I believe modern smartphones auto bracket on time and exposure and just AI adjust. I know most of my friends with modern cameras take ridiculously beautiful photos as a matter of routine.
jack_riminton 6y ago
A similar technique used by painters is to squint really hard at something so that the subject is reduced to its most basic parts
dreen 6y ago
> On the face of it, it’s a somewhat absurd concept. Imagine tourists flocking to a famous beauty spot, only to turn around and fix their eyes on its reflection in a tiny dark mirror. Every single tourist spot on the planet is filled with people looking at the objects of interest before them through a smartphone. I'm surprised the article does not make that parallel.
- jfengel 6y ago
  At least with the smartphone, you're taking a picture you can look at later, and share with friends. It does seem odd living your life though the lens of expecting it to be future. But it really highlights the oddity of sightseeing at all: what's the point of going to look at a thing? OK, it's the Eiffel Tower, or kudus at the zoo. And... now what? Perhaps the greatest example of this is the Mona Lisa. You go to see a painting that you've seen a thousand times before, and seen more clearly. What else are you going to do but grab proof that you actually did it? I've been in places that were unutterably beautiful or heart-wrenchingly meaningful. One of my most treasured photos is a piece of cave art that moved me to tears... though I couldn't get a good photo in the darkness. My photo is of a postcard in the gift shop. (I was backpacking and didn't want to carry stuff, but I did make a donation.) That kind of thing easily becomes habit. "I took a picture of the meaningful thing, so maybe if I take a picture of this the meaning of the experience will become clear later". Tourism often leaves me feeling like I missed something. I've tried to get better at it, both by letting myself feel nothing when the site turns out to be unimportant to me, and by looking for things I didn't expect.
yboris 6y ago
Some photos of large Claude mirrors and information: https://frogenddweller.wordpress.com/2016/02/28/claude-glass-and-romanticising-the-landscape/ https://frogenddweller.wordpress.com/2016/02/28/claude-glass...

52 points by Hooke 6y ago

sanj 6y ago

A physical manifestation of Instagram filters!

mensetmanusman 6y ago
That’s what it sounds like, but also just useful to look at and paint: https://www.waikereru.org/assets/images/news/claude-glass.jpg https://www.waikereru.org/assets/images/news/claude-glass.jp...

cs702 6y ago

See also: https://petapixel.com/2012/04/29/claude-glass-the-18th-century-version-of-instagram/ https://petapixel.com/2012/04/29/claude-glass-the-18th-centu...

pruthvishetty 6y ago

First recorded use of AR.

privong 6y ago

I first heard about Claude Glass while reading "Landmarks"[0] by Robert Macfarlane. While Claude Glass was only briefly mentioned, "Landmarks" itself is one of those wonderfully deep books that invites slow reading. The richness of nature language (that we seem to be losing) has been rewarding for me to explore through Macarlane's experience. I paid attention to nature before, but since starting to read "Landmarks" I have more regularly zoomed in on details and how features of the landscape vary subtly from place to place. [0] - https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/536563/landmarks-by-robert-macfarlane/ https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/536563/landmarks-by... Edit: Fixed author's first name. Thanks @zzleeper!

zzleeper 6y ago
*Robert Macfarlane. For a second I thought John had added being an accomplished writer as a side gig to philosophy and coding

twic 6y ago

This makes me think of circular polarizers, and the effect they have on skies and landscapes, which is well-known to photographers but perhaps not to the general public: https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/uk/tutorials/use-a-polarizing-filter-to-get-stunning-skies-in-your-landscape-photography https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/uk/tutorials/use-a-polari... I wonder if this is something that could be incorporated into smartphone cameras quite easily.

privong 6y ago
> I wonder if this is something that could be incorporated into smartphone cameras quite easily. I imagine it'd be straightforward to put a circular polarizer in front of a smartphone camera lens. But people might not like the 1-1.5 stops of light lost because of how it would affect/limit low-light photography. I suspect the latter is more important to most people than the effect of a polarizer on sky color in a photo.
renewiltord 6y ago
I believe modern smartphones auto bracket on time and exposure and just AI adjust. I know most of my friends with modern cameras take ridiculously beautiful photos as a matter of routine.

jack_riminton 6y ago

A similar technique used by painters is to squint really hard at something so that the subject is reduced to its most basic parts

dreen 6y ago

> On the face of it, it’s a somewhat absurd concept. Imagine tourists flocking to a famous beauty spot, only to turn around and fix their eyes on its reflection in a tiny dark mirror. Every single tourist spot on the planet is filled with people looking at the objects of interest before them through a smartphone. I'm surprised the article does not make that parallel.

jfengel 6y ago
At least with the smartphone, you're taking a picture you can look at later, and share with friends. It does seem odd living your life though the lens of expecting it to be future. But it really highlights the oddity of sightseeing at all: what's the point of going to look at a thing? OK, it's the Eiffel Tower, or kudus at the zoo. And... now what? Perhaps the greatest example of this is the Mona Lisa. You go to see a painting that you've seen a thousand times before, and seen more clearly. What else are you going to do but grab proof that you actually did it? I've been in places that were unutterably beautiful or heart-wrenchingly meaningful. One of my most treasured photos is a piece of cave art that moved me to tears... though I couldn't get a good photo in the darkness. My photo is of a postcard in the gift shop. (I was backpacking and didn't want to carry stuff, but I did make a donation.) That kind of thing easily becomes habit. "I took a picture of the meaningful thing, so maybe if I take a picture of this the meaning of the experience will become clear later". Tourism often leaves me feeling like I missed something. I've tried to get better at it, both by letting myself feel nothing when the site turns out to be unimportant to me, and by looking for things I didn't expect.

yboris 6y ago

Some photos of large Claude mirrors and information: https://frogenddweller.wordpress.com/2016/02/28/claude-glass-and-romanticising-the-landscape/ https://frogenddweller.wordpress.com/2016/02/28/claude-glass...