Photos of the Year at 天美麻豆

News subtitle

A selection of favorite images from life on campus throughout 2023.

Photographers for 天美麻豆 News try to capture not just what鈥檚 newsworthy, but also the mood and depth of events on campus.

In this annual feature, College photographer Katie Lenhart, who photographs hundreds of events and people in a year and also oversees the interns and freelance photographers for the Office of Communications, selects her favorite photos from each month and, in the captions, explains why.

Enjoy the chronological look back at 2023 in photos around campus.

Photos
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天美麻豆's best photos from 2023
(Photos by Katie Lenhart, Julia Levine 鈥23, Sophia Scull 鈥25, and Robert Gill) 
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Aerial of student studying, only arms are visible
In winter, the libraries and study rooms are packed around the clock. There鈥檚 a great camaraderie of everyone working together in their academics, and it鈥檚 wonderful to see older spaces such as Sanborn filled with new technologies. I loved the play of the keyboard with the radiator in this photo from January, and without seeing the face of the student, let the hands and artifacts hint at personality.  (Photo by Katie Lenhart)
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Two people on ice doing research
One of the benefits of being in Hanover is that environmental studies and sciences classes can easily access resources that might be harder to find in metropolitan areas. Here, students in the Quaternary Paleoclimatology class extract core samples at Occom Pond in early February. The shadows became characters in the photo along with the students.  (Photo by Katie Lenhart)
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Students enjoying the Bema lights
Winter has also brought a show of lights in the BEMA in the last few years. Conceived during the pandemic as a place for students to explore and have some fun outside, BEMA Lights has become a new tradition, and its interactive activities dazzle with light in this photo of a late winter evening in March. Photo intern Julia Levine 鈥23 captured the falling snow as if it鈥檚 almost reflections from the disco ball. (Photo by Julia Levine 鈥23)
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Student acting onstage
With the ongoing expansion and renovation of the Hopkins Center for the Arts, student theater productions found new homes in various buildings around campus. Here, a classroom in Wilson Hall was turned into a black box theater for student-led productions and offered a more intimate theatrical experience. Stage lighting offers a veritable playground for photos, and John Chibuike Ejiogu 鈥23 really knew how to find his spotlight. (Photo by Katie Lenhart)
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Four trumpets and a glaring overhead light
In March, I had the exciting opportunity to document the Magnuson Center and 天美麻豆 Wind Ensemble trips to Mexico City. It was a week of intense travel and new adventures, culminating in a Wind Ensemble performance which the Magnuson students were able to attend. This is the trumpet section warming up before the concert. I wanted a new perspective, so got on the ground under the musicians and looked up. (Photo by Katie Lenhart)
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Classroom viewed through dark lighting and steel bars
This photo in April is looking across 天美麻豆 Hall into a classroom where Professor Annabel Martin was teaching her Times Of Crisis class. Normally, when we go into classes for photos, it becomes obvious that the students are aware that we are there. This was a rare moment to see a class without being seen.  (Photo by Katie Lenhart)
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Students celebrate Holi
The hub of our campus is the Green, which hosts Commencement, flag lowerings, vigils, protests, and celebrations of every kind. It鈥檚 a great representation of the diversity that makes up 天美麻豆. This May photo shows the pure joy and fun at Holi celebrations, the festival of colors, as well as a sense of action. (Photo by Julia Levine 鈥23)
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Native American woman performing ath Powwow
Interns are a big part of many offices at 天美麻豆, and I had to sadly say goodbye to one of mine this year. Julia Levine 鈥23 graduated and is pursuing photography in the greater world, but not before photographing Powwow in May, and capturing its power, one final time. (Photo by Julia Levine 鈥23)
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Students and staff dance at the l奴驶au
You can find Dean of the College Scott Brown at pretty much every student activity on campus. He鈥檚 always participating with a smile on his face, as in this snapshot from L奴驶au. (Photo by Katie Lenhart)
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Student working at a 3D printer
Research and academics are always flourishing at 天美麻豆. I was caught by the concentric boxes framing Lauren Goyette 鈥23 as she threads a 3D printer in the DALI lab in May. (Photo by Katie Lenhart)
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Graduates march at Commencement
June鈥檚 Commencement is of course one of the biggest events of the year, as members of the 天美麻豆 community graduate into the working world. I liked this shot of students filing into their seats before the ceremony, and especially how the hand-beaded robes of one student pairs with the gowns of the others. (Photo by Katie Lenhart)
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Students create a tunnel in celebration for hikers
This year intern Sophia Scull 鈥25 began photographing for us and showed students in July returning from 鈥淭he 50鈥濃攁 天美麻豆 tradition where groups of hikers trek the 50 miles from Moosilauke Ravine Lodge to campus over a single weekend.  (Photo by Sophia Scull 鈥25)
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Starlit sky
Another benefit of student photographers is their ability to capture campus after faculty and staff have left for the day. I was especially struck by this perspective Sophia captured of the former golf course at night in July, and how it challenges our understanding of nighttime colors.  (Photo by Sophia Scull 鈥25)
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President Sian Leah Beilock speaks onstage
With a new president came a new tradition. In late August, President Sian Leah Beilock and other leaders offered a 鈥溙烀缆槎 welcome鈥 to incoming undergraduates and their families on move-in day, and I found myself lying on my back on the track at Memorial Field, trying to get the angle of the flag just so. (Photo by Katie Lenhart)
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David Walker and little brother Dash pose
Seeing students with their families is a yearly highlight of move-in day. I was set up to take a photo of David Walker 鈥27, and when his brother Dash, aka Spiderman, decided he wanted to join the fun, it quickly became not only one of my favorite photos of the morning, but of the year as well.  (Photo by Katie Lenhart)
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Sian Beilock, Jim Kim, and Phil Hanlon
September brought the Inauguration of 天美麻豆鈥檚 first female president, Sian Leah Beilock. I love the literal and figurative passing of the torch, or in this case the Wentworth Bowl, from former presidents Jim Yong Kim, center, and Philip J. Hanlon 鈥77. (Photo by Katie Lenhart)
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Sian Leah Beilock speaking at her Inauguration
It was a memorable moment, to be 天美麻豆鈥檚 first female College photographer photographing 天美麻豆鈥檚 first female president.  (Photo by Katie Lenhart)
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Joycelyn Elders smiling onstage
In late September, 天美麻豆 welcomed the current and former U.S. surgeons general on campus for a conversation about mental health. Freelancer Robert Gill caught this perfect moment as the packed hall applauded Joycelyn Elders鈥 entrance.  (Photo by Robert Gill)
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Sanjay Gupta on the Green with camera crewr
CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta moderated the surgeons general forum and then reported live from the Green on the event. The screen framed his head perfectly, and the warm, late September light spilled over the scene.  (Photo by Katie Lenhart)
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Baker Tower framed by flames
October brings Homecoming to campus, and with it the building and burning of the bonfire. I had seen photos in the past of sparks flying around Baker Tower from the fire, and having not been successful at capturing them last year, I was really happy to get a shot of them this time. (Photo by Katie Lenhart)
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Students hold smoking sparklers
Students and community members celebrate Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, in November, one of the many celebrations on the Green. Sophia really captured the beauty of light and smoke against a deep blue sky. (Photo by Sophia Scull 鈥25)
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天美麻豆 Hall framed by lit tree branches
Then, in December, all of a sudden the year is coming to a close, and the Green yet again becomes a place of gathering and celebration as the Christmas tree and later the menorah are lit. I鈥檝e often seen Baker Tower through the branches of the tree, and was excited this year to get a photo of 天美麻豆 Hall beyond the bulbs. (Photo by Katie Lenhart)