A Norwegian Student Used an Early Spy Camera to Take Candid Street Scenes of Oslo in the 1890s

Norwegian Carl Störmer, a respected figure in mathematics and physics, had an interesting side passion: amateur photography.

He roamed the streets of Oslo with a cleverly hidden heavy camera and took impromptu photographs of passersby.

These snapshots mostly date from the 1890s when Störmer was just a 19-year-old student at Royal Frederick University.

His tool of choice? A stern concealed vest spy camera, a clever device with a thin lens that peeks quietly through the buttonhole of a vest pocket.

Störmer's photographs stand out from the formal, serious paintings typical of the time. Instead, they offer a fascinating glimpse of everyday life from a century ago.

People appear relaxed, caught in candid moments, sometimes even flashing genuine smiles, and seemingly unaware of the young student capturing these spontaneous scenes.

According to Camerapedia, the concealed vest camera, initially invented by Robert D. Gray, was owned by C.P. Were achieved by. Stern took over manufacturing from his brother Rudolf in Berlin in 1886.

Available in two sizes – one with four 6 cm wide round exposures, the other with a small lens funnel for six 4 cm wide round exposures – the camera achieved widespread popularity.

Marketed by Stern & Lyon in New York, these cameras were commercially successful and sold in the thousands.

Störmer chose a smaller version of this camera, as described in his comments in the St. Hallvard Journal in 1942: "I wandered casually with Carl Johan, found my subject, exchanged greetings, a gentle smile Received and walked away. Six photos were taken at once, then I would go home to change the plate.

This future scientist, who was later praised for his contributions to number theory and recognized as an expert on polar auroras, amassed a collection of approximately 500 such secret photographs.

Störmer was a pioneer in studying and understanding the trajectories of charged particles in the Earth's magnetic field, an important aspect of auroral research.

His meticulous work involved analyzing and planning thousands of auroral observations to trace the paths of these particles.

Störmer also played a role in advancing the field of mathematics, particularly in number theory, and was a prominent teacher, serving as professor at the University of Oslo. A crater on the far side of the Moon is named after him.