The University has published a new photo essay book, “People, Places, Passions, Pursuits, A Penn Portrait,” just in time for holiday gift giving.

The coffee table book features photos that reflect life on campus, from major milestones such as Commencement to everyday activities like cheering on the basketball team or studying for exams.

It also captures the uniqueness of Penn with photographs of the University’s rich arts and culture scene, Penn’s groundbreaking research, time-honored traditions, and, of course, its historic buildings and welcoming green spaces.

“Let this volume serve as your own personal time capsule,” Penn President Amy Gutmann writes in a welcome message inside the book, inviting current students, long-time alumni, faculty, and staff to relive their memories at Penn through the wide array of photographs.

“The wonderful thing about this book is that it captures both the iconic photos of Penn’s campus, such as the [Split] Button and The Palestra, but also the many new spaces, including Penn Park, the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, and even the most recent addition, Shoemaker Green,” says Marie Witt, vice president of the Business Services Division (BSD), which oversaw the book’s creation.

The book features 250 images selected from more than 1,000 photos, and includes photos depicting every school at Penn.

“What is really interesting is that we didn’t take the usual track and hire one photographer to shoot all the photos,” explains Ilene Wilder, director of marketing at the BSD who shepherded the book from concept to completion. “We used a variety of photographers and included a number of images taken by Penn staff and students. The book is not only of Penn, but by Penn.”

The University has not published a photo book since 1999.

Considered the highlight of the Penn Bookstore holiday gift catalogue, 2,500 first-edition copies currently are available for $49.95 each at the Penn Bookstore, 36th and Walnut streets, and on the Penn Bookstore website.