A Fingerprint on the Snowglobe?
It looks a little like the densely lined arch of a fingerprint, maybe some abstract stick-figure rainbow if it weren't on a photo. What you see is a solargraph, taken by a pinhole camera. If
photograph is built from the Greek roots
photos, "light" and
graphos "write," its process as something literally "written in light" emerges. Using a very long exposure time—usually many months—and a very small aperture (opening), solargraphs track the path of the sun, changing in its arc across the sky a little bit each day in relation to the earth's tilt. Not only is it evidence of the particular way out planet travels through space over the course of the year, it looks pretty cool, too. Click the picture above to go to Tarya Trygg's Solargraphy database, which lets you search for solargraphs from around the world (I recommend just continent and city). She also lists a lot of good information about how to make your own solargraphic image using a pinhole camera which can be made for under $10.
This site also has good information about how to make a solargraph, plus general information about pinhole photography.
Click any of these for a full-size version:
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