Print Page

12 in 2012

A twist on the typical year-in-review feature from our photographer's perspective

December 18, 2012


As Dickinson College's photographer, I make thousands photos during the course of a year. Many do not get used. In my opinion and those of my colleagues, these pictures have merit and are worthy of being seen.

In the interest and spirit of sharing some of them, I have (with great difficulty) selected 12 photos [that were originally added one per day to a Facebook album]. I will offer a brief thought on what prompted me to make each photo or why I feel each is worthy of being shared. I hope that others experience the same emotional or esthetic feelings that I sought to convey when making them.

Carl Sander Socolow '77
College Photographer
Dickinson College


1of1

  • This photo represented a challenge in terms of defining movement and participation and how to present both in a graphically compelling presentation.
    1. The Site Dance Class
  • The joy of this photograph is in the discovery. It's not necessarily a readily usable photo for everyday purposes, but there is a delight at that moment of realization.
    2. Discovery
  • This photo was made during the Homecoming & Family Weekend dedication of the Operation Iraqi Freedom plaque in Memorial Hall. It's a picture that carries a lot of meaning and emotion.
    3. Memorial Hall
  • It's not often I get to make a formalist, architectonic photo with this range of color and exoticism. This photo was made during a March visit to Cuba with the Cuban Mosaic class.
    4. Cuba
  • The interplay of the human form with the geometrics of Britton Plaza from an uncommon vantage point help make this a picture of interest. I also like composing in figure-groups, and this photograph is built upon this technique.
    5. Britton Plaza
  • We were photographing Nasir Ellis '15 for the upcoming squash court promotional brochure. This portrait, an outtake, appealed to me as a character study that went beyond the purposes of the original photo session.
    6. Portrait Outtake
  • Spring brings everyone out on campus. Photographing the quotidian while depicting form and content is one of the challenges to making a strong picture with emotional content.
    7. Campus Life
  • Dickinson always looks wonderful, but the fog and foliage added a particular sense of mystery, beauty and poetry.
    8. Denny Hall
  • This is not your typical sports action photo. The framing, the expression, the sense of being in the discussion transcended the conventions of sports photography. And this photo drove home to me that what takes place on the field during a game barely scratches the surface of athletic commitment.
    9. Lacrosse Practice
  • What appealed to me with this photo—aside from Dickinson with its lush autumnal face—is the sense of community: students relaxing, the social space of Morgan Field and the variety of states of being expressed in each person's body language.
    10. Morgan Field
  • During the Homecoming & Family Weekend Run for Steph, Head Lacrosse Coach Dave Webster's son was tired and on the verge of being unable to complete the walk. Members of the lacrosse team saw this and formed a [channel] for him to enter. Their cheering elicited the smile you see in this photo as he completed the walk.
    11. Run for Steph
  • I'm always looking for new ways to photograph the red chairs. This chair, with its wet leaf, was a photographic gift. I think it's a picture that beautifully and poetically illustrates these fixtures of campus life.
    12. Red Chair
This photo represented a challenge in terms of defining movement and participation and how to present both in a graphically compelling presentation.Prev ImageNext Image


To look back at more from 2012 and from years past, check out the news archive, features archive and Dickinson Magazine page.