A Day in the Life of Penn, Fall 2012

Just before sunrise on Nov. 14, the day’s first baby was born at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Around midnight, a Penn Law student closed the day studying, surrounded by books.

In between, morning commuters streamed across the South Street Bridge in cars and on bikes, fourth-year Penn Vet students wheeled a canine patient out of the surgery suite, and Penn Jazz rehearsed in Houston Hall—all against a background of a crisp, picture-perfect fall day.

These are just a handful of the moments, big and small, captured in the second iteration of the University-wide photo project, “A Day in the Life of Penn.” The endeavor, led by the Office of University Communications in partnership with Penn Design, tapped student, faculty, and staff photographers to document all aspects of campus life from sunrise to well after sunset on one day: Nov. 14, 2012.

Here is a sample of images captured on that day:

More than 100 photographers submitted 928 images of campus life via the University’s Flickr pool, from the happenings in classroom settings, research labs, and staff meetings, to climbers scaling the rock wall at the Pottruck Center, hungry lunchtime crowds lining up at food trucks along Spruce Street—and even students studying abroad in Copenhagen, Paris, and Zurich.

In addition, photographers participating in the project posted 107 images on Instagram that day, as well as 198 tweets on Twitter marked with the hashtag, #PennDayinLife.

Photographers also captured some of the most well-known campus landmarks in creative ways, including a stirring sunrise at Franklin Field, the geometric windows of Hill College House, and twilight in front of College Hall.