Why an Atheist Thinks the Shroud of Turin is the Real Deal

Awful Conditions for Pia

Pia only knew that the image he was to photograph was very faint and that lighting conditions in the cathedral were awful. Fortunately Thomas Edison, who it seems was 22^nd inventor of light bulbs, had created a commercially viable bulb two decades earlier. Pia was able to set up two lights. Because the cathedral did not have electricity, he also set up generators.

His camera was a large camera with large glass plates for negatives. The process was simple. By draping a black cloth over the back of the camera, he focused the image on a piece of translucent glass. He then covered the lens and inserted a piece of glass that was coated with a light sensitive emulsion. To take the picture, he uncovered the lens for a period of time.