LENS WORK - CAMERA OBSCURA.

Reflective work from our lens workshop.



LENS

The lens is the all seeing eye of the Camera that interprets a live scene using mirrors within it to capture a still image. To further clarify what is considered a lens, the oxford dictionary defines it has "A piece of glass or other transparent material with curved sides for concentrating or dispersing light rays, used singly (as in a magnifying glass) or with other lenses (as in a telescope)."


CAMERA OBSCURA

Camera obscura,  meaning 'dark chamber' in Latin and sometimes referred to as 'pinhole image', is the natural optical effect created when an image of a scene on the other side of a screen is projected through a small hole in that screen. Post 16th century the small hole would often have contained a lens. The Oxford Dictionary defines Camera obscura as "A darkened box with a convex lens or aperture for projecting the image of an external object on to a screen inside..." Camera Obscura was often used as an aid for painting and drawing.


EXPERIMENT

We focused on the aperture of a camera lens and the usefulness aperture has when deciding how much light should be let in to improve image quality. Knowing this has helped me to extend my knowledge of the techniques that I can use to take better quality images with my Camera.

Leading on from this, we then took part in a workshop where we looked at the many techniques that could be used with different lenses. Ranging from telescope lenses through to macro lenses. The task later set by our tutor was to bring in our own lenses and a box with reasonable proportions in order to construct our own DIY camera obscura.

A photo of our workshop with handmade camera Obscuras. 

Above you can see the types of camera obscura that we were able to create. I was particularly intrigued on how the obscura lens was able to capture an image using only a magnifying glass and a box. The process was new to me and I enjoyed recreating it. It was a refreshing reminder of the vast amount of creativity and technique that photography offers and how versatile it can be as a medium.