Photographic Lenses: History, Design, and Use

Instructor: Eric Taubman | Tuition: $328 (Members) $385 (Non-Members) | Dates: Wednesdays, June 18 - July 23 (skip July 2) | Time: 6 - 8 PM ET

from $308.00

Course Overview

The role of the photographic lens in the creation of photographs is largely an accepted and seemingly obvious one. This class invites students to dig deeper to explore the aesthetic, technical, and historic context of lens choice in photography. Through lecture, discussion, and visual examples, students will be introduced to a range of historic medium and large format lenses and the photographs they helped produce. This study will provide a practical understanding of how lenses have influenced image-making throughout history—and how these tools can inform and inspire contemporary photographic practice. While a historical timeline provides valuable context, the primary focus is on understanding different lens types for personal artistic use.

The course is structured around five weekly sessions, each two hours long, covering the following topics:

  • Portrait Lenses

  • Landscape Lenses

  • Pictorial Lenses

  • Modern and Speed Lenses

  • Formats, Technical Info and Purchasing Choices

If your desired tuition option is unavailable, please email info@penumbrafoundation.org and we will do our best to accommodate you. If the entire class is sold out, we can add you to the waitlist.

Eric Taubman is a photographic artist, educator, technician, and researcher.  His personal work explores conceptual and visual ambiguity and symmetry, the reclamation of the hidden, forgotten, or unnoticed image, as well as the urban wilderness project.  He works primarily in large format,  using early printing processes, including his most recent work printed in photogravure.  As a technician Eric created methods and systems for producing and reproducing photographic imagery and founded and ran an international group of photo-labs geared to image processing and exhibition.  As founder of Penumbra Foundation Eric is mostly involved with the acquisition and archiving of 19th and early 20th century photographic literature and manuals housed in the Penumbra Library.