People ask me (as the Director of Communications for the Law School) where we get the photographs for the many publications we publish. Often, people assume that all of the photography that schools put in viewbooks and alumni magazines is staged in elaborate photo shoots to make the building look beautiful, the students look friendly, the faculty look kindly, and the weather look sunny every day of the year. I won't kid you - we do some photo shoots with lights and backdrops. But mostly, those are to get the fancy headshots of students and faculty that grace our web profiles or are included in the Viewbook. Most of our photos come from a photographer attending events at the Law School and are true slices of life from what goes on here every day, albeit snapped by a professional.
Some days, however, serendipity takes over. I got an email the other day from one of our students saying, "If you have the Law School camera, come out to the front lawn where a bunch of photogenic 3Ls are playing bocce." Indeed, there were five of our third year students, enjoying a beautiful day on the lawn. I was lucky enough to catch them in action, completely unstaged (except for the fact that they probably used better bocce form when the camera was around!).
Where will these photos end up? Who knows. Maybe in our Viewbook, to show prospective students one of the ways our students have fun. Maybe in the Glass Menagerie (our student facebook), to remind our current students and faculty of a nice day in the Spring of 2007. Maybe on our website for the whole world to see. But to me they will always be a reminder not only of how much fun our students can be, but how nice it is that they think of the Law School's photography needs when they see something great going on!
