[jtbayly]

So if I’m understanding correctly, the black hole is supposed to be between me and what I’m looking at, not in what I’m looking at?

If so, then my question is wouldn’t some light be lost to the black hole? Shouldn’t a substantial portion of the light coming at me from the other side of the black hole disappear into the black hole, making what does lens around dimmer?

[bmurphy1976]

Yes some light would be lost the black hole, but also some light you would not have normally seen is now coming your way due to space time warping.

[hunter2_]

When you say "normally," do you mean all else being equal except no black hole? Or substitute an opaque mass for the black hole?

[ayakang31415]

Here's Veritasium video on Gravitational Lensing effect: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUyH3XhpLTo

[useless_foghorn]

A lot of light would be absorbed by the black hole. A lot of light paths would be bent and miss or nearly miss the black hole, making edges of the black hole quite bright. The dimming effect would be much larger than the (brighter) immediate periphery.