5. Perception

What does a camera see when its eyes are closed?
I bought a new camera and took the very first picture with the lens cap on. By analyzing this photo, it appears that the image is not completely black (enlargement︎︎︎).

I did the same experiment with a used digital camera. The analysis of this other photo is different.︎

These photos, which should be 100% black, contains information whose meaning I cannot grasp. I could examine the technical reasons for these results, but I prefer to interpret it in a different way.

For me, the first image is the photo of a sensor opening its eyes for the very first time, struggling to make sense of what it sees (or doesn't see).

On the other side, the last image is the photo of a sensor that has already seen a lot, it is tired and has lost some of its sensitivity. Or it has given up trying to make sense of what he sees.

1 .cr2 file of 20.6 MB and 1 .arw file of 48.8 MB, 2 inkjet prints 36x24 cm and 50x34 cm