1. A smoke detection apparatus ( 1 ), the smoke detection apparatus ( 1 ) configured to connect to at least one monitoring camera ( 2 ) which is configured to record images of a monitoring area, the monitoring area comprising at least one stationary contrast pattern object ( 3 ), the smoke detection apparatus ( 1 ) including an evaluation device ( 5 )configured to detect the at least one contrast pattern object ( 3 ) in images transmitted by the monitoring camera ( 2 ), the evaluation device ( 5 ) evaluating a contrast of the contrast pattern object ( 3 ) in the images as at least one smoke detection feature in order to detect smoke, wherein the evaluation device ( 5 ) is configured to determine a contrast deviation between an upper contrast pattern section ( 4 a ) and a lower contrast pattern section ( 4 b ) of the at least one contrast pattern object ( 3 ) in at least one of the images and to evaluate the contrast deviation as the at least one smoke detection feature.