Great Teaching Idea: Students Study Photography Inside a Giant Camera Obscura

As anyone who has attended college knows, all professors are not created equal. Lucky photography students at the University of Central Oklahoma really hit the jackpot with Mark Zimmerman who turned his classroom into a giant camera obscura.

Zimmerman is an Associate Professor of Photography, teaching a class titled “History of Photography to 1945.” Zimmerman credits Cuban-born photographer Abelardo Morell as the inspiration for the unique classroom experience he created for his students. We featured Morell last month in a story about the walk-in pinhole camera he made from a tent.

Professor Zimmerman says, “I always challenge myself to make this class interesting and visual,” adding that he’s always wanted to convert a classroom into a camera obscura. He used alumni foil and duct tape to seal the room’s windows—leaving a hole for the “lens” in the foil covering the window in the center of the room.

You can watch the brief video below to get an idea of the effect. And don’t forget to look at our story about Morell, who has been making walk-in camera obscuras for the past 15 years.

Via PetaPixel

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