[HN Gopher] The Claude Glass Changed the Way People Saw Landscapes
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       The Claude Glass Changed the Way People Saw Landscapes
        
       Author : Hooke
       Score  : 49 points
       Date   : 2021-03-20 16:06 UTC (2 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (daily.jstor.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (daily.jstor.org)
        
       | yboris wrote:
       | Some photos of large Claude mirrors and information:
       | https://frogenddweller.wordpress.com/2016/02/28/claude-glass...
        
       | pruthvishetty wrote:
       | First recorded use of AR.
        
       | dreen wrote:
       | > 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 wrote:
         | 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.
        
       | privong wrote:
       | 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...
       | 
       | Edit: Fixed author's first name. Thanks @zzleeper!
        
         | zzleeper wrote:
         | *Robert Macfarlane. For a second I thought John had added being
         | an accomplished writer as a side gig to philosophy and coding
        
       | jack_riminton wrote:
       | A similar technique used by painters is to squint really hard at
       | something so that the subject is reduced to its most basic parts
        
       | cs702 wrote:
       | See also: https://petapixel.com/2012/04/29/claude-glass-the-18th-
       | centu...
        
       | twic wrote:
       | 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-polari...
       | 
       | I wonder if this is something that could be incorporated into
       | smartphone cameras quite easily.
        
         | privong wrote:
         | > 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 wrote:
         | 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.
        
       | sanj wrote:
       | A physical manifestation of Instagram filters!
        
         | mensetmanusman wrote:
         | That's what it sounds like, but also just useful to look at and
         | paint:
         | 
         | https://www.waikereru.org/assets/images/news/claude-glass.jp...
        
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       (page generated 2021-03-22 23:04 UTC)