Norway’s First Paparazzo Took Street Shots Through A Hole In His Pocket

Towards the end of the 19th century, Norway’s first paparazzo was being born. Twenty years later, Carl Størmer would discover his one true love: secret street photography #fotomagic

At the beginning of the 1900s, Carl Størmer was getting tired of seeing the same gloomy face and fixed poses in photos. So, he came up with an idea: what if he hid a camera in plain view to capture spontaneous moments? He just needed the right gear.

The opportunity came in the form of a C.P. Stirn Concealed Vest Spy Camera. The round flat canister could be concealed by his vest, while the lens would stick out through a buttonhole. To trigger the shutter button at the right moment, he just had to do one thing: “Under my clothes I had a string down through a hole in my trouser pocket, and when I pulled the string the camera took a photo.”

The experiment soon became a habit and Størmer ended up taking around 500 secret images. If that’s not impressive, consider this: the photographer was a mathematician and physicist, also, contributing to number theory and studies concerning the Northern Lights.

Here are more of his photos: