The Year in Pictures

University photographer J. Adam Fenster shares some of his favorite photos from around the University during the past year.

Eye of the Beholder: Jeff Wyatt, attending veterinarian for the University and for Seneca Park Zoo, examines 35-year-old African elephant Genny-C.
                                                
One of Fenster’s favorite assignments this year was photographing at the zoo. “This photo is a crop of a larger original,” he explains. By cropping in on the elephant’s eye and the vet’s hands, he creates a more captivating image.

The Iconic Campus Shot: Rush Rhees Library is probably the most photographed building on the River Campus. Professional and amateur photographers capture stunning photos of the edifice all year round. Fenster notes that it’s interesting to compare different versions of the same subject.

In this case, Fenster happened upon some “found light” from the setting January sun. “It was an overcast evening, with heavy clouds, but then there came this spear of sunlight. It created a dramatic effect and I just happened to be there to document it.”

Walk This Way: Director of Religious and Spiritual Life Denise Yarbrough walks a labyrinth in the University’s Interfaith Chapel.

For this picture, according to Fenster, “it was essential to photograph it from above and to make the most of the natural light.”

Spidey Sense: In May, stunt actors and movie crews shot scenes in front of Eastman Theatre for the upcoming movie The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

When Fenster learned that filming was occurring in downtown Rochester, he took the initiative to document the occasion. “It’s Hollywood in Rochester—what a unique and important moment for both the city and the school. And this photograph puts Spiderman right next to the Eastman sign.”

The Future Is Bright: Marcus Burrell, holding his diploma, celebrates with mother Beverly following the School of Medicine and Dentistry’s commencement ceremony.

“The best photos are the ones that show emotion,” says Fenster. “They’re also the hardest to get. In the aftermath of commencement though, you see a lot of real emotions from the graduates and their families.”

Statuesque: The photo depicts a figure from Tom Otterness’s Creation Myth, which is perched above the Memorial Art Gallery entrance.

“More than anything, this picture demonstrates how the chance confluence of weather and light can help to create a striking image,” Fenster says.

Ice Age: Vasilii Petrenko, assistant professor of earth and environmental sciences, holds a 50,000-year-old ice sample from a glacier in Antarctica.

“For this photo, I had in my mind what I wanted to capture,” explains Fenster. “As the demonstration ice started melting, it took on the appearance of translucent glass. So I lit it from behind to create the image you see.”

Lake Effect: Warner School students and Rochester city schoolchildren obtain water samples from Lake Ontario during the school’s Get Real! Science summer camp in July.

“I’ll take any excuse to get into the water,” says Fenster, “and it’s always great to document the outreach that our students do. In this case, the weather worked to our advantage. Because it wasn’t too sunny, you’re able to see more details in the subjects’ faces.”

Where the Wild Things Are: Pictured is a male Henkel’s leaf-tailed gecko (Uroplatus henkeli). Geckos are among some of the species studied by Daniel Scantlebury, a Rochester PhD student in biology.

According to Fenster, “This was one of my favorite assignments. We could have just used stock photography, but I love photographing critters and had some ideas for this shoot. After a lot of setup and testing, we managed to collect a great series of gecko images to help illustrate the research.”

Heavy Metal: Rochester sculptor Albert Paley works on Soliloquy in his studio. The piece was later installed in the Memorial Art Gallery's Centennial Sculpture Park.

According to Fenster, “Sometimes detail shots are more interesting than wider ones. They give us a chance to show viewers a subject in a completely different way.”

Fired Up: University students attend a bonfire behind Susan B. Anthony Halls during orientation.

Fenster’s take? “This was the first bonfire on campus in about 15 years. Fire is always a fascinating subject for a photographer, both evocative and primal. I also enjoy capturing students in non-academic settings.”

The Man, the Myth, the Legend: Pictured is the statue of University benefactor George Eastman overlooking the Eastman Quad.

“This is probably the second most photographed object on campus,” says Fenster. “I had to do some dodging and weaving to get the statue’s outline against the sky. By exposing for the dramatic clouds you get a nice, contrasting silhouette.”

In Memoriam:  A remembrance gathering convened for Douglas Lowry, the former Eastman School dean, on the morning he died of cancer. The school’s main hall was officially renamed Lowry Hall.

“An event like this is always hard to cover,” explains Fenster. “How do you capture raw emotion in a way that’s respectful and tells a story? Here I held the camera above my head and used a long lens to compress the scene, creating a narrow plane of focus on the faces of Douglas Lowry’s mourners.”

Bring Up the Bodies: After 23 years, Commerce, a long-lost statue, was reacquired from former English professor James Carley. It lies in storage awaiting its reunion with the four other statues near Rush Rhees Library.

“When I arrived at the storage company I had to get a guy on a forklift to move the statue to an area where I had enough room to light and photograph it properly,” Fenster reports. “Then I spent a couple of hours positioning lights and changing camera angles to get something that worked. I enjoy using available light whenever possible, but sometimes you need to bring your own to augment or overpower what is already there in order to create a more dramatic photo.”

The end result juxtaposes the statue’s artistic details with the warehouse’s ordinariness.

Eye Spy: Former study subject and Rochester graduate Lindsay Bronnenkant wears an eye-tracking device as she reenacts a study on synesthesia and “seeing” in the dark.

“I’m often called upon to help illustrate stories promoting the research at the University. In this case, the research was about motion, so I wanted the photo to show movement,” Fenster explains. By slowing down the shutter speed, he was able to blur the hand to convey movement in a still photograph.

The Best of Photo Friday

Every Friday, the University homepage is taken over by photos submitted by Rochester students, alumni, faculty, and staff. And every week, visitors to the page select their favorite photos. Here are this year's favorites, as chosen by you.

• November 22, 2013
  from Saikat Chakraborty, chemistry graduate student
  Rush Rhees - a library for all seasons.
• November 15, 2013
  from Rachel Yarnold '14
  First snow of the Season.
• November 1, 2013
  from Crystal Cusimano, Dean's Office
  Red.
• October 25, 2013
  from Sara May, University IT
  Morning dew on an autumn leaf.
• October 18, 2013
  from Grayson Honan '16
  View of the Science Quad from Gavett.
• October 4, 2013
  from Yuchuan Zhuang, graduate student
  We all love photography!
• September 20, 2013
  from Katherine Wegman '15
  Rochester students conquer Mt. Marcy, the tallest peak in New York State.
• September 6, 2013
  from Akira Neng Chun Wong '14
  My Minion and I, together we are gonna make the world ever better. (On Top of Europe)
• August 30, 2013
  from iola Spahiu '15
  Viola Spahiu '15 and Lindsey Brown '15 on Mt. Rainier in Washington.
• August 23, 2013
  from Alec Girten '17
  Taken in the Yoloshin Valley on the Tibetan Plateau.
• August 16, 2013
  from Thomas Hollowell '14
  Thomas Hollowell '14 perches 220 ft up while installing gearbox monitoring sensors at Puget Sound Energy's Wild Horse Wind Farm.
• August 2, 2013
  from Maria Salas '15
  Students Helping Hondurus Leadership Summit 2013. “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” -Gandhi
• July 26, 2013
  from Ruolan Han '07 (Ph.D)
  Warner School graduate student Dwayne Campbell getting engaged with URMC alumnus (now Duke grad student) Saintedym Wills.
• June 28, 2013
  from Anthony Wan '13
  SuperMoon over Rush Rhees.
• June 21, 2013
  from Kathryn Flaschner '14
  After a four day trek in the Inca Jungle, here is rising senior Kathryn Flaschner in Machu Picchu, paying tribute to the place that got her there.
• June 14, 2013
  from Jordan Schilling '15
  Bausch & Lomb Hall in springtime.
• June 7, 2013
  from Crystal Cusimano, Dean's Office
  Spring and the Muses.
• May 31, 2013
  from Devin Embil '13
  Evalyn Gleason '13 blowing bubbles during commencement.
• May 24, 2013
  from Lisa Norwood, Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
  Putting on the finishing touches before the 9 a.m. Commencment Ceremony.
• May 3, 2013
  from Zhiyuan Ma '16
  Rush Rhees under Full Moon.
• April 26, 2013
  from Anthony Wan '13
  Rush Rhees balcony in the sun!
• April 12, 2013
  from Brent Gerstner, alumnus
  Spring time at the University.
• April 5, 2013
  from Nicolas LeClaire '14
  The Writing Fellows, undergraduates trained to help other students with all stages of the writing process.
• March 22, 2013
  from Kathleen Cusack '13
  The University of Rochester Men and Women's Ultimate Frisbee Teams at High Tide in Brunswick, GA.
• March 08, 2013
  from Lauren Levine, parent
  Nemo 2013: The pathway between the bookstore and Georgen.
• March 1, 2013
  from Jared Nesvet '13
  The Genesee River after the snow storm.
• February 8, 2013
  from Yuanyun Zhang '14
  Winter Fest in Wilson Commons.
• February 1, 2013
  from Sukanya Roy '16
  Walking in a winter wonderland...
• January 25, 2013
  from Patti Walker, Memorial Art Gallery
  Touch the rainbow. (behind Memorial Art Gallery)
• January 18, 2013
  from Melissa Hewson '11
  Gingerbread Rush Rhees designed by URSMD '15 students Michael Feldman ('11), Melissa Hewson ('11), Maura Tappen and Josef Bartels as part of the First Annual Polk Gingerbread Competition.
• January 11, 2013
  from Dan Watts, Residential Life
  Snowed under, over break.
• January 4, 2013
  from Ya Gao '16
  Rush Rhees library.