Glorious to View ‘This Beautiful Place of Nature and Learning’: Through Garrett’s Lens Take a trip back to your alma mater with these evocative images by a Class of ’25 alum—who shot thousands of photos as a student By Beth Saulnier “The second I stepped on the campus, I was absolutely in awe of the natural environment,” says Garrett Spillerman ’25. “Every season is unique—it’s an all-year-round, beautiful place that’s always changing.” During his four years on the Hill, Spillerman captured thousands of images of that splendor—using photography as a way both to chronicle his Big Red experience and to manage the everyday stresses of student life. The resulting oeuvre depicts the Cornell campus at its loveliest—be it displaying fall foliage, spring’s joyful florals and bright greens, or the more austere allures of winter. In fact, his images of the Hill’s chilliest days—along with the many sunsets he snapped—often seem the most evocative. “Even the cold winter has its beauty—whether it’s the ice formations in the gorges, or the bare trees, or that wet snow that sticks to everything,” says Spillerman, who’s Zooming with Cornellians from his childhood bedroom, where his work lines the walls. “While winter might seem long, the seasons themselves are pretty quick—and your time at Cornell moves so fast. I simply can’t believe it’s over for me already.” A Pennsylvania native, Spillerman fell hard for photography at age 10, when his grandparents gifted him a rudimentary digital camera. For his bar mitzvah service project a few years later, he took nature photos, had them printed in large format, and mounted them in pediatric cancer wards. “Hospital rooms have those fluorescent lights and white antiseptic walls,” says Spillerman, who plans to attend law school in fall 2025. “It became this beautiful thing where I could bring the outdoors inside.” As a comm major in CALS, Spillerman took an even deeper dive into photography—practicing the art almost daily, as he captured myriad scenes on campus and beyond, including Cayuga Lake and nearby state parks. While winter might seem long, the seasons themselves are pretty quick—and your time at Cornell moves so fast. His senior spring, he even used a collection of his photos as the final for an academic course: taking the popular class (taught by Corey Earle ’07) on the history of Cornell, he jumped at the chance to create a digital scrapbook as his end-of-semester project. “Nature is something that I think a lot of people take for granted,” he observes. “But going to a school like this, in this location—having this tremendous opportunity to be in this beautiful place of nature and learning and community, and being able to showcase what we get to see every day—that’s really, really cool.” Given that many of Spillerman’s images have an otherworldly quality—with saturated hues and ethereal lighting—viewers may be surprised to learn that he eschews filters and does little or no postproduction, beyond the occasional crop. He shoots with an iPhone—whose cameras have, of course, become increasingly sophisticated over the past decade. And since he always has it in his pocket, it allows for innumerable moments of photographic serendipity. “Something I struggle with a little bit,” he admits, “is knowing when to take a picture, and when to take a deep breath and just savor the moment.” Scroll down for an album showcasing some of Spillerman’s favorite campus photos! (All photos courtesy of Garrett Spillerman ’25.) Published June 26, 2025 Comments Greenbaum Bettsie 26 Jun, 2025 What a tremendous achievement for Garrett to have chronicled the seasons of life at Cornell over his 4 years! Garrett has the rare ability to appreciate, with insight and wisdom, all of these fleeting moments. Why don’t we put his stunning images in every hospital room in the entire country! This is a young man who will go far…and as his friend, I get to watch him shine…lucky me! Reply Lynn Medley 27 Jun, 2025 Absolutely stunning! Reply Adele Cirone Oliva 30 Jun, 2025 I have never seen anyone capture the true beauty of Cornell. This should be made into a photo book. Thank you for bringing me back to Ithaca!! Reply Roslyn Joffe 1 Jul, 2025 These photos are really fantastic. Thank you for sharing the beauty of the location. The pictures make me feel as if I am there in person. Fabulous. Love, Roslyn Joffe Reply KG O’Donnell, Class of 1977 1 Jul, 2025 Simply amazing! I go back every year and take pictures, I wish I had done that while I was an undergraduate. Reply Diane Bishop Hanson, Class of 1959 1 Jul, 2025 The wintry ones touched me the most. I once again felt the cold in my bones. Reply Sulaiman Wasty, Class of 1989 3 Jul, 2025 Cornell makes me Proud! Reply Leave a Comment Cancel replyOnce your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Class Year Email * Save my name, email, and class year in this browser for the next time I comment. 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