This camera will click a single photo for the next 1,000 years

There’s a camera perched atop the Tumamoc Hill, Tucson in the US, which is clicking a picture. Not just any ordinary picture, but a picture that would capture its surroundings in a single click for the next 1000 years. The experimental concept was designed by philosopher Jonathan Keats and a team of researchers from the Desert Laboratory on Tumamoc Hill.

Traditional methods rely on quick reactions, but Keats envisions the ' ' that outlasts even the most advanced technologies. He wants to create an enduring image that transcends time and he’s adamant that the camera remains shut for the next 1,000 years. These good folks have positioned the camera beside a bench that gazes westward onto the Star Pass neighborhood.

The bench beckons hikers to take a momentary break, while the camera sparks the imagination, prompting wanderers to ponder the mysteries that the future may unfold, as envisioned by Keats. "One thousand years is a long time and there are so many reasons why this might not work," Keats . "The camera might not even be around in a millennium.

There are forces of nature and decisions people make, whether administrative or criminal, that could result in the camera not lasting." How does the camera work? Designing a camera to last for a very long time, specifically for 1,000 years, is no easy task. Keats’ idea is that simplicity is key to longevity.

The camera he designed uses a small hole in a thin sheet of 24 karat gold to let light enter. This light then passes through a tiny copper cylinder mounted on a steel pole. The surface inside the camera is coated with many layers of rose madder, which is an oil paint pigment. Over the course of 1,000 years, sunlight reflecting from the landscape of Tucson will gradually affect the light sensitive surface inside the camera.

This extended exposure, over centuries, will capture the changes in Tucson's landscape throughout the years. The resulting image, when the camera is eventually opened by future humans, will be a unique and long term record of Tucson's transformations across different eras. "Most people have a pretty bleak outlook on what lies ahead," said Keats.

"It's easy to imagine that people in 1,000 years could see a version of Tucson that is far worse than what we see today, but the fact that we can imagine it is not a bad thing. He hopes that the image will prompt futuristic human beings to take action to save the planet. But how will we interpret the scenarios of the past with just a single image? And how will this image end up looking like? Keats explains, "Let's take a really dramatic case where all the housing is removed 500 years in the future.

What will happen then is the mountains will be clear and sharp and opaque, and the housing will be ghostly. All change will be superimposed on one image that can be reconstructed layer by layer in terms of interpretation of the final image.” Beyond capturing the past for the future, Keats urges our minds to contemplate and plan for what lies ahead.

He prompts us to consider the sprawl of populations on the landscape, urging urgent reflection. In the quest for a timeless image, Keats inspires a call to action for a thoughtful and sustainable future. "This project depends on doing this in many places all over the world," Keats said. "I hope this leads to a planetary process of reimagining planet Earth for future generations.".