For some students, Dartmouth is best viewed through the lens of a camera. Whether capturing a campus event, the seasons of New Hampshire or classroom life, student photographers get to document the College’s history in real time — and share their work with students, alumni and prospective applicants across the world.
While student snapshots may have a global reach, the real magic happens at home. Student photographers often find that their mission — sharing Dartmouth with the community — takes them to all different corners of campus. Former alumni marketing and engagement intern India Jones ’25, for example, had “a lot of free reign” to photograph different parts of campus for the Office of Alumni Relations’s social media pages.
“Sometimes there would be assignments like, ‘Occom’s frozen, go take some photos over there,’ or, ‘[Alumni] really want to see more of the new Irving building,’” Jones said. “But generally, they would just [say], ‘As long as you get us five nice photos that we can post weekly, you can do whatever you want.’”
Like Jones, many student photographers find employment with the College. Interns in the Office of Communications, for example, photograph events and moments across campus for the College’s social media pages and news releases. Buntida Lertbunnaphongs ’25 said her communications internship has taken her to a variety of College offices, student events — such as a fashion show hosted for Black Legacy Month — and campus centers. According to Lertbunnaphongs, her photography assignments have given her a “full[er] picture” of Dartmouth’s campus beyond her “social circles.”
“[Photography] has exposed me to so many things happening on campus that I wouldn’t be aware of otherwise, and through that, I’ve been able to meet so many people I wouldn’t have otherwise interacted with either,” Lertbunnaphongs said.
Like Lertbunnaphongs, communications intern Sophia Scull ’25 said the internship has exposed her to various parts of campus. She explained that she often receives assignments to photograph student life events that exhibit the “less academic side of campus.”
According to Scull, these student life assignments give her a “break from studying” and “tend to be really beautiful for photography.” One of her favorites, she said, is the annual Diwali celebration on the Green.
“Diwali is an amazing [event] to photograph just because the lighting is so beautiful,” Scull said.
Sean Hughes ’28, a photographer for The Dartmouth and Dartmouth Athletics, said his positions lend themselves to two very different types of photographs. His assignments for The Dartmouth often include photographs of events and campus architecture, while his job for Athletics requires game pictures for the department’s social media graphics and articles.
Hughes’s sports photography allows fans and audience members to witness behind-the-scenes moments they don’t usually see, he said. To capture these angles, he receives “special access” to locker rooms, press boxes and sidelines, Hughes explained.
“It’s really cool to get to see sports from a lot of different areas or right next to the football field,” he said.
For other student photographers, jobs with the College take them all over the globe. Benjamin Joel ’27 served as the Dickey Center for International Understanding’s Going Global Digital Storytelling intern last summer — the first intern to fill the position in “10 years,” he said. Joel accompanied Dickey Center interns to Costa Rica, New York City, Vietnam, Kosovo and Kenya to document their work and experiences.
Joel, who was involved with the Dickey Center’s Great Issues Scholars program during his freshman year and is currently a War and Peace Fellow, said the Going Global internship allowed him to combine his interest in the Center’s academic offerings with photography and international travel.
“[The Dickey Center] decided to bring [the internship] back this year, and I was fortunate to get it,” Joel said. “I’m still pinching myself.”
Meanwhile, Lertbunnaphongs brought her camera with her when she traveled to South Africa and Namibia for the environmental studies department’s foreign study program in 2023. She also received funding from the College to take photos while on a 2024 trip to Iceland co-sponsored by the Institute of Arctic Studies and the Dartmouth Sustainability Office.
“I’ve always wanted to photograph in Iceland,” Lertbunnaphongs said. “Obviously I went as well because it was a sustainability trip, but it was just cool to find this really tiny pocket of money that was able to get me so far and get me to do something really cool.”
In addition to positions with College offices and student organizations, student photographers also find themselves documenting student milestones through freelance jobs. Jones said she has been hired by sororities — including Kappa Delta and Sigma Delta — and the Hopkins Center for the Arts to photograph formals and take headshots, respectively. Scull, meanwhile, has photographed Greek Life formals and helped students with professional headshots and senior portraits.
Often, student photographers find their freelance work through word-of-mouth. According to Scull, people usually reach out to her over Instagram or through mutual friends. She added that she believes that people often reach out to student photographers after they are credited on pictures posted to the College’s social media pages.
Some student photographers discover work with the College through similar channels. Lertbunnaphongs learned about the Office of Communications internship when a student intern reached out to her after seeing her photos on Instagram during Lertbunnaphongs’s sophomore year.
“She was saying photography is still a really male-dominated field … so she [said], ‘I really want another female intern at the office, and I think your work is great and you should check it out,’” Lertbunnaphongs said.
Other photographers found jobs with College offices through JobX, the College’s student employment database. For example, Hughes applied for his job with Dartmouth Athletics through JobX after connecting with an alum who previously worked in the position, while Jones found two photography roles through the database — the Alumni Marketing and Engagement internship, and a job last spring as an assistant to the Admissions Office’s 3D Magazine photographer.
“[The 3D Magazine assistantship] was just three days last spring, but I got to learn how to set up lighting and stuff and see a more involved photography process,” Jones said. “Often, JobX has some good intro stuff.”
These diverse photography opportunities mean that student photographers often take hundreds, if not thousands, of pictures around campus. These students snap photos of events, Greek life formals and even trips abroad. So, what is a Dartmouth student photographer’s favorite picture?
Scull’s favorite photo she’s taken is a golden hour shot of Baker Tower through a window in Moore Hall.
“It was just a really peaceful scene,” Scull said. “Even though it was mainly architectural, it felt like a landscape image. … That one was one of my first Dartmouth photos, which was memorable because of that.”
Meanwhile, Joel said his photo of a vigil in honor of victims of the Russian invasion of Ukraine stands out in his memory. The photo shows a Ukrainian flag behind a speaker against a dark background, he said.
“You can see the breath of the woman who’s speaking but also the hope,” Joel said. “… And I think through the darkness, you’re able to see the optimism and perseverance.”
Sean Hughes ’28 is a photographer for The Dartmouth, while Buntida Lertbunnaphongs ’25 and Sophia Scull ’25 are former photographers for The Dartmouth. They were not involved in the writing or production of this article.
Kelsey Wang is a reporter and editor for The Dartmouth from the greater Seattle area, majoring in history and government. Outside of The D, she likes to crochet, do jigsaw puzzles and paint.
