Carolyn is presently working on a historic novel that takes place in 1830s Paris. During this magical period  a handful of daring men take on the impossible challenge of capturing images directly from nature without paint or pencil. Their tools are the sun, simple wooden boxes, and everyday chemicals. One of these men works by day as a civil servant and tinkers during his downtime. As he dives into the competition to devise a revolutionary art form, he is shoved out of prominence by the politics of invention that heap credit on others. Will he succeed in creating a novel way of seeing that will radically alter people's perceptions of themselves and the world?