How to Use Photo Images For a Kaleidoscope

The mirrors in a kaleidoscope can make art of any image or object.

You may think of a kaleidoscope as making patterns out of an ever-changing arrangement of small objects. But it can work its magic with a static image as well. That's because the magic is in the mirrors inside the tube, which bounce and share light reflected off of what's on the "stage" at the end -- the sometimes moving section that contains the materials you will view in the kaleidoscope. To be able to use photographic prints, you do need to open the stage or replace it, and you need a source of light inside the stage. Old-fashioned slide transparencies, on the other hand, may slip right in and give you fascinating patterns.

Things You'll Need

• Kaleidoscope with removable stage at least 1 inch deep and sides open to admit light
• Photographic prints with high contrast or color patterns
• Scissors or paper cutter
• 35mm transparencies, mounted or unmounted, or film negatives

Instructions

1. Trim the edges of a photo print to fit the stage of your kaleidoscope, paying particular attention to the part of the image that will be at the center. Turn the stage, as with any kaleidoscope, to alter the pattern.

2. Cut a photo up into small, irregular pieces and place them in your stage with the image side facing into the kaleidoscope. Turn the stage or the tube to change the pattern. A few details may be recognizable in the reflected images.

3. Put whole or or cut-up transparencies or negatives in the stage to combine traditional kaleidoscope translucency with photographic imagery.

Tips & Warnings

• The kaleidoscope was first patented by Sir David Brewster in 1817.

• You can build a kaleidoscope from a potato-chip tube and use the plastic cap as the stage. To use it with photo prints or pieces, you'll need to add a stage deep enough to let in light.

• Mathematicians and computer scientists such as David Joyce of Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, have written programs to simulate kaleidoscope images on your computer screen.

• Mix print and transparency bits in your kaleidoscope, or add other traditional and nontraditional items along with the photos.

References

• Kaleidoscope Applet; David E. Joyce; 1996
• Florida State University: "Pioneers in Optics: Sir David Brewster (1781-1868)"

Resources

• Kaleidoscope Resource: "Making a Kaleidoscope"; Bethany Croasmun; 2009