--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I invented a camera that has an exposure…" description: "\"I invented a camera that has an exposure time of one hundred years and the camera works in the simplest possible terms, because anything more complicat..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c8/jonathon-keats-10822_black_i-invented-a-camera-that-has-an-exposure_2220522.jpg" --- # I invented a camera that has an exposure time of one… ![“I invented a camera that has an exposure time of one hundred years and the camera works in the simplest possible terms, because anything more complicated is more likely to break down in one way or another. It's a pinhole camera that lets in very low light and instead of exposing film, which is…” quote by Jonathon Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c8/jonathon-keats-10822_black_i-invented-a-camera-that-has-an-exposure_2220522.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c8/jonathon-keats-10822_black_i-invented-a-camera-that-has-an-exposure_2220522.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c8/jonathon-keats-10822_black_i-invented-a-camera-that-has-an-exposure_2220522.jpg) > “I invented a camera that has an exposure time of one hundred years and the camera works in the simplest possible terms, because anything more complicated is more likely to break down in one way or another. It's a pinhole camera that lets in very low light and instead of exposing film, which is going to spoil within a matter of days or weeks, I'm using ordinary black paper.” [Jonathon Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathon-keats/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A camera designed for ultra‑long exposure captures slow processes, using simple materials to avoid technical failure. **In simple terms:** A simple, durable camera captures slow change over centuries. Key Takeaway Embrace simplicity for longevity. Themes creativity technology durability Mood contemplative inquisitive Type artistic experimental When to use this quote - art installations - environmental monitoring - historical documentation Key Concepts long‑exposure pinholes material simplicity Questions to Reflect On - How can slow‑time photography reveal hidden patterns? - What limits does simplicity impose? A Different Perspective Complex subjects may need more precision than a pinhole can provide. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black/) [Break](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/break/) [Breaking down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breaking-down/) [Camera Exposure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/camera-exposure-4954657/) [Camera Works](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/camera-works-3884130/) [Cameras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cameras/) [Complicated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complicated/) [Exposing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exposing/) [Exposure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exposure/) [Exposure Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exposure-time-3145057/) [Film](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/film/) [Hundred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hundred/) [Invented Camera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/invented-camera-4954656/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Lows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lows/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [One way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/one-way/) [Ordinary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ordinary/) [Paper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paper/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Pinhole Camera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pinhole-camera-1866482/) [Simplest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/simplest/) [Spoil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spoil/) [Term](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/term/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Week](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/week/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [Cartier-Bresson has said that photography seizes a 'decisive moment', that's true except that it shouldn't be taken too narrowly...does my picture of a cobweb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-strand/cartier-bresson-has-said-that-photography-seizes-a-decisive-moment/) [Paul Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-strand/) > [I'm someone who sits at a computer eight hours a day, and I look in that pinhole camera at the top of my screen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hallie-ephron/i-m-someone-who-sits-at-a-computer-eight-hours-a-day-and-i-look-in/) [Hallie Ephron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hallie-ephron/) > [If I find a comedy club where no one's camera works, I'll go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-rock/if-i-find-a-comedy-club-where-no-one-s-camera-works-i-ll-go/) [Chris Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-rock/) > [This camera works like photosynthesis. 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Brower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-r-brower/) ## More by Jonathon Keats > [ \[Buckminster\] Fuller was an independent operator coming up with these madcap ways of combining things with absolutely no strings attached and the fact that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathon-keats/buckminster-fuller-was-an-independent-operator-coming-up-with-these/) [Jonathon Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathon-keats/) > [ We clearly recognize the need for something that is what \[Buckminster Fuller\] represents and therefore it becomes really useful and really interesting to look… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathon-keats/we-clearly-recognize-the-need-for-something-that-is-what-buckminster/) [Jonathon Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathon-keats/) > [I think that I feel that I have no choice but to operate under the illusion, which may be a delusion, that we can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathon-keats/i-think-that-i-feel-that-i-have-no-choice-but-to-operate-under-the/) [Jonathon Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathon-keats/) > [ \[Buckminster\] Fuller said that everything at the time was basically a horse and buggy in the form of an automobile and it had that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathon-keats/buckminster-fuller-said-that-everything-at-the-time-was-basically-a/) [Jonathon Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathon-keats/) > [I don't think that I am hopeful because I have some data that you don't, that I am going to share with you and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathon-keats/i-don-t-think-that-i-am-hopeful-because-i-have-some-data-that-you-don/) [Jonathon Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathon-keats/) > [I would argue that search has made the world a better place. It has done so for reasons that arbitrarily could completely change that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathon-keats/i-would-argue-that-search-has-made-the-world-a-better-place-it-has/) [Jonathon Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathon-keats/) > [ Architects in urban planning are talking about this but they're not talking about it yet I don't think at that level that \[Buckminster\] Fuller… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathon-keats/architects-in-urban-planning-are-talking-about-this-but-they-re-not/) [Jonathon Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathon-keats/) > [ I would certainly never want to inflict anything on the world exactly as \[Buckminster Fuller\] envisioned it because there is a technocratic worldview that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathon-keats/i-would-certainly-never-want-to-inflict-anything-on-the-world-exactly/) [Jonathon Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathon-keats/) > [You have those who have been living and breathing Buckminster Fuller ever since he converted them to his cult and to be honest, I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathon-keats/you-have-those-who-have-been-living-and-breathing-buckminster-fuller/) [Jonathon Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathon-keats/) > [ There were other auto manufacturers that were confabulating as much as \[Buckminster Fuller\] was, making claims about how cars resembled this or that aspect… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathon-keats/there-were-other-auto-manufacturers-that-were-confabulating-as-much/) [Jonathon Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathon-keats/) > [On the other hand, the way in which that car fit into this whole very roundabout way of attempting to solve the problem of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathon-keats/on-the-other-hand-the-way-in-which-that-car-fit-into-this-whole-very/) [Jonathon Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathon-keats/) > [I do not think that technology is our salvation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathon-keats/i-do-not-think-that-technology-is-our-salvation/) [Jonathon Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathon-keats/) > [ Where Google and \[Buckminster\] Fuller overlap are in the potential for putting together disparate technologies in ways that can lead to something that might… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathon-keats/where-google-and-buckminster-fuller-overlap-are-in-the-potential-for/) [Jonathon Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathon-keats/) > [I set my life since then attempting to figure out how to do that, basically how to have a sort of public discourse in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathon-keats/i-set-my-life-since-then-attempting-to-figure-out-how-to-do-that/) [Jonathon Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathon-keats/) > [I was totally taken in and totally taken by that myth starting in 1999, rather carelessly writing about this archive and starting to read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathon-keats/i-was-totally-taken-in-and-totally-taken-by-that-myth-starting-in/) [Jonathon Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathon-keats/) [Explore all 63 Jonathon Keats quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathon-keats/) ## More Black quotes > [I wanted to write about voodoo tradition that I feel has been very important to survival of black people here: people of the African…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-wanted-to-write-about-voodoo-tradition-that-i-feel-has-been-very/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [When you go to a club it's not about being black or white or heavy or thick. I'm shaking my ass because I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miley-cyrus/when-you-go-to-a-club-it-s-not-about-being-black-or-white-or-heavy-or/) [Miley Cyrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miley-cyrus/) > [The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-vision-of-the-left-full-of-envy-and-resentment-takes-its-worst/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [The term "black metal" has become a lot looser, or can include a larger range of sounds and extra-musical aesthetics, not just Satan and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-marston/the-term-black-metal-has-become-a-lot-looser-or-can-include-a-larger/) [Colin Marston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-marston/) > [How can you be more subject; black woman in a white man's world?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-duffy/how-can-you-be-more-subject-black-woman-in-a-white-man-s-world/) [Maureen Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-duffy/) > [We have to build our own power. 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I definitely feel like it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-boyega/hollywood-is-so-fixated-on-keeping-it-that-way-because-it-s/) [John Boyega](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-boyega/) > [Nowadays most people wear black most of the time anyway: go to a literary party and one would imagine everyone there was in perpetual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/nowadays-most-people-wear-black-most-of-the-time-anyway-go-to-a/) [Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/) > [There ain't no such thing as black Muslims. 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