Camera, Monitor, Frame is the first installment of Takahiko Iimura's "Video Semiotics Triptych" (the other two works are Observer/Observed, made in 1975, and Observer/Observed/Observer, made in 1976). The work analyzes the fundamental components of video: the camera, the monitor, and the frame, focusing on the role of each within a system of video as analogous to the functions of vision and speech.

Takahiko Iimura formed the experimental film group Film Indépendant with Nobuhiko Obayashi, Yoichi Takabayashi, Donald Richie, and Koichiro Ishizaki in 1964. Since then he has produced many conceptual and experimental films and vido art works. in 1966 he moved to the U.S.; since then he has produced work internationally. His major works include Ai (Love) (1962), Observer, Observed (1975), and Ma: Space/Time in the Garden of Ryoan-ji (1989), which includes texts by Arata Isozaki and music by Takehisa Kosugi.