An optical head that forms latent images on a photosensitive material by a multiple-exposure method is driven at higher speed. This optical head comprises a plurality of light emitting elements arranged in a specific direction, a storage unit for receiving and storing data corresponding to one pixel, a shift register having a plurality of registers respectively corresponding to the plurality of light emitting elements, the shift register receiving the data stored in the storage unit and successively shifting the data of each register, and an element drive circuit for lighting the corresponding light emitting elements on the basis of the data in each register of the shift register, wherein the plurality of light emitting elements arranged in the specific direction are successively lighted, and one pixel is subjected to multiple exposure.