Photos by Harvard staff photographers

Campus & Community
Our favorite pictures of 2022 have a theme: Zoom, out

December 19, 2022 3 min read

Harvard photographers document vibrant return to campus life after two years of pandemic restrictions

In 2022, Gazette photographers were excited to finally get out from behind those little Zoom squares and capture the people, places, and traditions that define Harvard. Here are some of our favorite shots.

Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian calls Morning Exercises to order at the Class of 2022 Commencement in Tercentenary Theatre.

Together again for traditions

We celebrated not one but three Commencements this year and, as always, our photo team was there to memorialize moments of hard-earned pride and joy — from grads, parents, professors, and even a pair of twin teachers. Other photogenic rites resumed to pre-pandemic form: Hasty Pudding, Housing Day, Match Day, the Du Bois Medal ceremony, and The Game.

Excitement erupts on the steps of University Hall as envelopes arrive containing first-years' House assignments.

On Match Day, Medical School student Chidiebere Akusobi is elated to find out his residency is at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Harvard President Larry Bacow congratulates Du Bois Medalist Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; Harvard football plays Yale at home for the first time since 2016.

Graduate Sydnie Cobb of Winthrop House is flanked by proud childhood teachers Aprile (left) and Deanna Thomas. The twin sisters homeschooled Cobb for 13 years.

Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year Jennifer Garner kicks up her heels with cast members.

New president

Just last week, Harvard named Claudine Gay the University’s 30th president. The Faculty of Arts and Sciences dean is pictured at Smith Campus Center addressing the community following the announcement.

Kate Pease, assistant director of leasing and space planning, sews in her home using a projector to draw a pattern. She is joined by daughters Ella and Coraline.

Community portraits

There’s no shortage of people doing fascinating work at Harvard, and the Gazette is packed with their stories. Two particularly arresting images of community members are from a photo-rich story on the Staff Art Show and a spring series investigating the pandemic’s toll on students and their families.

Anastasia Onyango and her family spoke to the Gazette about life during COVID.

Catherine, Princess of Wales.

Newsmakers

Renowned scholars, world leaders, and celebrities regularly visit campus and 2022 was no exception. Here, the Princess of Wales gets a royal reception in Harvard Square and a student from Ukraine addresses President Volodymyr Zelensky, who remotely attended a Kennedy School Forum.

Yegor Tverdokhlibov asks the president of Ukraine a question at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum.

Lowell House reflected in a car's surface.

Inspiring setting

Harvard’s historic campus is a source of endless inspiration for Gazette photographers. Here, hidden patterns, a vintage printing process, and sightings in the Square offer fresh angles on the everyday.

Cyanotype composites an oak leaf with scene from Harvard Yard.

Rainbow over the Yard.