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Detective camera

Sambourne used a number of hand-held cameras, including this ‘detective’ version disguised as a pair of binoculars. This took photographs at a right angle to the ‘lenses’ mounted on the front, enabling the photographer to catch their subjects unaware. Sambourne found it useful on a trip to Hampton Court when he was able to persuade the museum guards (who forbade photography) that it was not a camera. Without his subjects realising, Sambourne took hundreds of photographs of people going about their daily lives around the streets of Kensington....
Late 19th century
Glass, board, metal, string
Image and text © The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London.

Where you'll find this

Sambourne House
Permanent collection

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