DriversRecommendedOutdated drivers can make a good PC feel brokenScan driver issues before chasing fixes manually.Scan NowOctober DealsAmazon USOctober deal check: compare before you payAmazon US: current deals, useful picks and tech finds.Check DealsWindows FixRecommendedWindows errors stealing your time? Find the fix fastScan stability, cleanup and performance issues.Fix Now×
Skip to content
ThatPainter
deep time art

The Millennium Camera Is Designed to Take 1,000 Years to Make a Photograph—Here’s Why

Installed on Tumamoc Hill, Jonathon Keats’s experimental pinhole camera is designed to fade rose madder pigment into a thousand-year image of Tucson. Its purpose is as much to prompt reflection about future generations as to make a photograph.

By ThatPainter Team 4 min read
Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

ThatPainter is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn More

The Millennium Camera is an experimental pinhole-camera artwork by artist and experimental philosopher Jonathon Keats. Installed on Tumamoc Hill in Tucson, it is designed to let sunlight fade a light-sensitive pigment over an intended thousand-year exposure, gradually forming an image of the landscape. The project is also an invitation for people today to think about how present choices may affect future generations. The photograph is a goal, not a completed or guaranteed result.

How can a camera take a thousand years to make a photograph?

Instead of recording a scene quickly on a sensor or ordinary photographic film, the Millennium Camera admits a small amount of light through a pin-sized opening. That light acts on a pigment surface over a very long period. The idea is that the pigment will fade more where the light is strongest, gradually revealing a positive image.

The University of Arizona describes the Tucson camera as a thin sheet of 24-karat gold with a pin-sized aperture, directing light into a small copper cylinder. Inside, the image-forming surface is coated with many thin layers of rose madder, an oil-paint pigment. The project adapts this slow-fading approach, which Keats calls Deep Time Photography, to an exceptionally long exposure. University of Arizona News explains the camera’s design and materials; the Desert Laboratory describes the broader technique.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

In concept, the image would record not only the view at installation but also changes to that view over time. Development, vegetation, and climate-related changes could contribute to the scene that eventually emerges. That makes the camera fundamentally different from an ordinary camera: it is intended to register gradual change, not produce an immediate snapshot.

#1 Best Overall
Sale
Pro Grade Paint Brushes, Paint Brush Set for Walls, Trim & Stain, 5-Piece
  • COMPLETE 5-PIECE BRUSH SET FOR EVERY PAINTING TASK — Includes 1 Inch Flat, 1.5 Inch Angle, 2 Inch Flat, 2 Inch Angle Stubby, and 2.5 Inch Angle brush giving you every size professional painters use daily. Get all 5 for less than the price of a single brush from hardware store brands — professional grade performance at a fraction of the cost. Perfect for walls, trim, cabinets, doors, furniture, and detailed cutting-in work on any project.
  • ZERO BRISTLE LOSS — GUARANTEED BY PRECISION ADHESIVE BONDING — Every bristle is locked in place with precision-set adhesive that keeps them in the brush — not in your paint job. The coated steel ferrule provides structural support while the adhesive bond ensures clean performance on every stroke. Premium SRT synthetic filaments load more paint and release it evenly for a smooth streak-free finish on walls, ceilings, and trim. Works with latex, oil-based paint, primer, sealer, and wood stain.
  • INCLUDES THE ANGLE STUBBY MOST SETS LEAVE OUT — Professional painters know the 2 Inch Angle Stubby is the go-to brush for tight cabinet interiors, window sashes, inside corners, and detailed trim where standard angle brushes are too long. Combined with the 1.5 and 2.5 inch angle sash brushes you have precision cutting-in covered at every scale — baseboards, crown molding, door casings, and ceiling lines.
  • FLAT BRUSHES FOR BROAD SMOOTH COVERAGE ON ANY SURFACE — The 1 and 2 inch flat brushes deliver even coverage on walls, furniture, shelving, doors, fences, decks, and wood surfaces. Ideal for applying primers, stains, varnishes, polyurethane, and specialty coatings. Solid wood handles provide all-day comfort and control for both professional contractors and weekend DIY homeowners tackling interior or exterior painting projects.
  • TRUSTED BY PROFESSIONAL PAINTERS AND CONTRACTORS NATIONWIDE — Pro Grade delivers professional-grade results at a price that makes sense for crews who go through brushes on every job. Ideal for property managers, remodeling contractors, apartment turnover crews, maintenance teams, and commercial painting operations. Backed by thousands of verified reviews from working painters. Washable and reusable for multiple projects.

Why make a camera that takes so long?

The project has two connected aims: to leave a record that people in the future might recover, and to prompt people now to imagine consequences beyond their own lifetimes. The camera is installed where hikers can encounter it and consider the future of the landscape they see.

Keats has stressed that the work is not a prediction or an instruction about how Tucson should develop. As he told University of Arizona News, “By no means is the camera making a statement about development – about how we should build the city or not going forward.” Instead, he said, it is “set there to invite us to ask questions and to enter into conversation and invite the perspective of future generations in the sense that they’re in our minds.”

Rank #2
Soucolor Acrylic Paint Brushes Set, 20 Pcs Pointed Tip Artist Paintbrushes
  • Great Value Pack Artist Paint Brushes: Soucolor 20 brushes in 10 sizes professional paintbrushes set — no shedding, holds paint well, cleans easily, Acrylic, watercolor, oil, gouache, Halloween pumpkin decoration & face painting, rock painting, ceramics. Fantastic high quality gifts for creative, artistic siblings to share!
  • Awesome Set of Paint brushes: Professional paint brushes can cover all of your needs. The multi-purposed brushes are ideal for Watercolor, Oil, Gouache, enamel, Acrylic Painting, Body, Nail, Face Painting, Miniature, Model, Wood, Glass, Cup, Ceramic, Fine work, Art class, Craft Art Painting, DIY Art Crafts etc.
  • Soft and long-lasting: The bristles are soft and strong, with nickel metal ferrules and blue wooden handles. After cleaning, the bristles will become soft and fluffy again and will not fall off.
  • Easy to clean: it’s very convenient to Wash well in soap and water. Retain shape after drying. the brushes hold up very well. Nice selection to beginners and professionals. Keep them clean and they last a long time.
  • Halloween Pumpkin Ceramic Crafts Supplies: A Great painting gift for family, friends, kids, girls, women, student, classmate, teacher. For using in school, travel or used in the home and office.

Its social purpose therefore matters even if the intended photograph never materializes: the installation asks viewers to consider long-term environmental impact and the people who will inherit the results of decisions made today. It is an artwork and a prompt for reflection, not a climate-measurement instrument or a forecast.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

Where is the Tucson Millennium Camera?

The camera was installed beside a bench on Tumamoc Hill, facing west over Tucson’s Star Pass neighborhood. The project is associated with the University of Arizona Desert Laboratory on Tumamoc Hill and the College of Fine Arts. Its public location gives hikers a chance to encounter the camera and look out across a part of the city that may change over time. The Desert Laboratory’s project page provides institutional context for the installation.

Rank #3
Sale
AROIC 10 Pcs Paint Brushes, Acrylic Oil Watercolor Painting Brush Set
  • 【All sizes of art brushes】: The 10 sizes of multi-functional brushes have various shapes, making the mixing color easier, which is very suitable for artists, students, teenagers, children and painters at all levels. Wonderful Present ideas for friends and family who like painting!
  • 【general brush set】: Professional paint brush can meet all your needs. Multifunctional brush is very suitable for watercolor, oil, gouache, acrylic painting, body, nail, face painting, miniature, model, ceramics, arts and crafts painting, etc.
  • 【high quality process】: It is designed with anti falling bristles, anti-rust nickel ferrule and solid wood handle. You can use the brush to focus on the painting and always be creative.
  • 【easy to maintain】: After using the brush, it is very convenient to clean the brush with warm soapy water and reshape the tip of the brush. Air dry the brush and place it on top of the top for long use.
  • 【100% satisfaction guarantee - buy now】1 packs of set brushes, you can also get friendly customer service, any questions feel free to contact us, within 24 hours to help you! There is no risk in buying our paint brush kit.

This Tucson installation is part of Keats’s wider Deep Time Photography practice, but it should not be confused with the earlier Tempe project. Arizona State University documented a planned millennium exposure of Tempe in 2015 and a public workshop in which participants could make pinhole cameras, including one designed for a 100-year exposure. ASU’s account covers that separate project and workshop.

Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Support on Ko-Fi

Will the photograph actually be made?

No completed thousand-year image has established that the design will work as intended. The camera’s location, materials, and goal are documented, but the final image remains a hoped-for future outcome. Keats has described the pigment’s expected rate of fading as an educated guess and acknowledged that the camera could fail for many reasons.

Rank #4
Bates- Paint Brushes, 6 Pack, Treated Wood Handle Brushes for Walls
  • Bates paint brushes come in a convenient 6 pieces with 3 flat and 3 angled bristle styles, including (1”, 1.5”, 2”) flat and (1.5”, 2”, 2.5”) angled bristles, perfect for tackling any surface painting or staining job.
  • The sturdy natural bristles of each brush are designed to hold more paint, creating a smoother finish with fewer streaks and saving you time on the job.
  • The lightweight wooden handles provide extra comfort and ease during long painting processes like walls, trims, cabinets, and doors.
  • These versatile brushes are ready-to-use, easy to clean, and can be reused multiple times, making them economical as well as reliable tools for any painting project.
  • Bates paint brushes can be used for both oil-based paints as well as latex stains and are ideal for home or commercial projects such as decks, fences or DIY painting jobs.

It may not remain in place for the full exposure; natural forces or human decisions could damage it. The pigment’s behavior across a millennium is not a proven performance result, and the available institutional accounts do not establish a success probability or a particular image resolution. Keats put the uncertainty plainly: “One thousand years is a long time and there are so many reasons why this might not work.”

What’s actually slowing this PC down?

Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

The project’s willingness to leave that outcome open is part of its premise. Keats has argued that opening the camera early would diminish the imagining the work asks people to do. As he told University of Arizona News, “If we open in the interim, then it diminishes the imagining that we need to be doing.” The claim is not that a thousand-year photograph already exists, but that people can contemplate what such an image might eventually show.

Best Value
Sale
Pro Grade Paint Brushes, 2 Inch Angled Paint Brush, Trim & Walls, 3 Pack
  • 2 Inch Angled Paint Brush for Precision Cutting-In – Designed for clean, sharp lines around trim, baseboards, ceilings, corners, and detailed edge work. The perfect size for control and coverage.
  • Value 3-Pack for Pros & DIY Projects – Includes three professional 2-inch angled sash brushes — ideal for contractors, remodelers, and homeowners tackling multiple rooms or repeat paint jobs.
  • Smooth Results on Walls, Trim & Cabinets – Great for interior wall painting, cabinet edges, furniture projects, and trim work where a smooth finish and crisp control matter most.
  • Works with Latex Paint, Oil-Based Paint & Stains – Premium synthetic filaments hold more paint, reduce streaks, and provide a clean finish with latex paints, oil coatings, and wood stains.
  • Works with Latex Paint, Oil-Based Paint & Stains – Premium synthetic filaments hold more paint, reduce streaks, and provide a clean finish with latex paints, oil coatings, and wood stains.

What a pinhole camera kit can—and cannot—teach

A basic pinhole camera kit can help demonstrate the underlying principle: light passing through a tiny opening can project an image. It is an educational analogy, not a miniature version of Keats’s installation. The Arizona State University workshop showed participants making pinhole cameras, including a long-exposure design, but that does not mean a consumer kit reproduces the Millennium Camera’s gold aperture, copper cylinder, rose madder surface, outdoor placement, or intended exposure period.

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

More from the Paint Desk

Recommended PC Tool
Recommended PC Tool
Windows Errors? Fix Them Before They SpreadFree repair scan
Outdated Drivers Are Slowing You DownFree scan - exact matches

Two free Windows tools

One Free Minute Could Fix That PC

Before you go - each of these free tools takes about a minute and tackles what quietly slows a Windows PC down.

Special offer. View Outbyte info, uninstall instructions, EULA, and Privacy Policy.