Jillian Lerner specializes in nineteenth-century visual culture, with an emphasis on print, early photography, and commercial visual attractions. She studied art history at Columbia University, completing her PhD in 2006 under the direction of Jonathan Crary and Anne Higonnet.

She is the author of two books: Graphic Culture: Illustration and Artistic Enterprise in Paris, 1830–1848 (McGill-Queens University Press, 2018) and Experimental Self-Portraits in Early French Photography (Routledge, 2020). Her research has appeared in Grey Room, History of Photography, and Oxford Art Journal.

Dr. Lerner is affiliated faculty in the Bachelor of Media Studies Program and a Green College Leading Scholar for 2022-24.

History of photography, nineteenth-century visual culture, media studies