If you were in Knapp room 403 this past week you would have seen a number of students traipsing into the darkened classroom to experience the emergence of image — through the ancient technology of the camera obscura. Thanks to Pscyhology’s generosity students were able to have the necessary space (with covid protocols) to spread out and look at the walls of the classroom as the image that was outside developed on the inside. Students spoke of the strangeness of waiting for the image, and the mystery of the reveal of the world, upside down on the interior walls. Student Eili Wright states, “I went around 2:45 on 2/2 and was absolutely blown away that it actually works. My favorite part was watching the cars go by on the ceiling!”
Later in the week, students were able to take their own pinhole cameras (using the same lo fi principle of a hole pierced into a darkened object/ room) and make images to develop in the darkroom. The magic of the early photographic process of using chemistry to reveal the latent image is used as a tool to connect with the historical trajectory of photography, as well as show the principles of how images are captured on film, photo paper or digital sensors. Students will soon move to the digital SLR and image editing software, but for now they are learning the foundational principles scientific and historical in creation of the photographic image.
