A lensless pinhole camera is a light-tight box with a very fine round hole in one end and film or photographic paper in the other. Light passes through the hole; an image is formed.
Pinhole cameras were known thousands of years ago by nomadic tribes of North Africa, inspired by the pinhole in a tent.
In the early centuries, photographic pioneers were unable to capture an image on a light-sensitive surface.
The first permanent images made directly by the action of light were produced by Frenchman Joseph NicOphore Niepeice, a scientist, artist, and investor.
Pinhole cameras have an infinite depth of field. They can capture the closest objects to the most distant objects in the same relative focus.