Every year, photographers in the University’s Division of Strategic Communications capture hundreds of thousands of pictures around campus. From covering big events like home football games to snapping shots of everyday life around campus, their work documents forever this moment in time at the Capstone.
We asked the photographers to select their favorite photos from the past year and share the story behind these photos and what makes them stand out.
“The Holi festival was such a fun event to capture,” said Bryan Hester, associate director of photography. “The flying colors, the blur of students chasing each other around the Quad, and especially the unmistakable feeling of joy from everyone there made it a blast. I was cleaning colored powder off my camera for a couple of weeks!”
The Script A is one of the most anticipated photos of the year. Thousands of students come together in the heat of August to get this class photo.
“Paige Acker-Price and the University Programs team do such an amazing job organizing the event and directing students into the perfect Script A,” said Executive Director of Photography Zach Riggins, who took the shot.
In addition to capturing major events and everyday campus activities, UA photographers take hundreds of staged and studio photo shoots each year to help tell the story of UA students, faculty and staff in magazines and more.
This stunning portrait of Minerva student Bridgette Hahn was taken for a student recruitment brochure.
“I find the warm light cascading from the left of the image to be a nice contrast with the cooler tones of her shirt and the bluer shadows on the right,” Riggins said.
Homecoming 2024 brought the first-ever drone light show to campus and the photo team was one of many that worked meticulously to plan for and document the spectacular event.
“It was almost autopilot with all the planning beforehand,” said photographer Jonathan Norris. “We had flown test flights capturing images of angles we wanted to capture while having room for a creative freedom during the flight.”
This image, which captures graduate Johana Chavez beaming proudly before walking across the commencement stage, is special to Hester. Chavez worked as a student photographer with the team for several semesters and covered many student events for the University.
“Commencement gives us the privilege of showcasing UA’s graduating seniors in their proudest moment,” Hester said. “But being able to celebrate with a student, coworker and friend made this spring commencement one to remember.”
“While we do portraits for legends, admissions all over campus, we also cover official events like football, basketball, trustee meetings, etc. Construction is one of the topics most people on campus talk about and end up having the biggest impact on us as staff,” Norris said.
The biggest construction project on campus right now is the Smith Family Center for the Performing Arts, which the photo team has documented throughout the process. This picture of a construction crew member suspended on the facade of the new building could only be captured at this angle via drone.
Photographer Matthew Wood said, “I love the depth and color tones of this image.” Captured in the sweeping Moody Music Concert Hall, this cinematic-looking portrait of CREATE Path to MBA student Luke Mondia was used for recruitment materials.
The saying goes a picture is worth a thousand words, but this one taken just after Bama’s dramatic win over UGA in September would probably be worth 100,000 at least.
For Norris, it was all about keeping the excitement as a fan in check to capture this dramatic shot. “As a Bama grad from Saint Simons Island, Georgia, and having a sister that is a graduate from UGA, that game had a great ending,” he said.