Twenty six. That number seemed oh so far away to me four years ago, yet here we are — less than a month away from graduation. What seemed an almost abstract concept for me for most of my life suddenly looms closer and closer, an inevitable reality that I’m not sure I’m ready for. To cope, I’ve been listening to Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” the entire semester (as one does) which, beyond filling me with immense sadness, has also made me reminisce and reflect on my college experience. What have I done or learned in the past four years? What did I truly accomplish at Cornell? When pondering such questions, one thing comes clearly to mind: photography.
I’ve always loved taking pictures of anything and everything, starting from my childhood days when I would borrow my older sister’s phone (as I was not allowed one until my sophomore year of high school, fun fact) on family trips to snap shots. But it was not until sophomore year at Cornell, when I stumbled upon my mom’s seven-year-old digicam, that I started taking photography a little more seriously. My first experience capturing pictures on something other than a phone was — not even exaggerating — pretty life-changing for me. I enjoyed it so much that I saved up all semester to purchase my first legit camera, a Fujifilm XT-30. With this new shimmering prize in hand, I looked for opportunities on campus to actually use it, which I found by joining The Sun’s photography department. It was the best decision I ever made.
Up to this point I was still very new to even amateur photography, with little knowledge of the techniques, rules and intuitions of the field. My first big experience came sophomore spring, when I signed up to cover a basketball game. I’ve been a fan of most sports including basketball my entire life, so it seemed like a fun thing to do. Little did I know that it would lead to one of my defining college passions. I fell in love with shooting sports, though I was definitely a victim of the beginner photographer's ego as I thought all of my shots were amazing. Looking back, I can definitively say they were not — everything was tinted green, for some reason? (I’ve come a long way since then, to put it nicely.) Nevertheless, I took every chance to cover sports that semester, from basketball to hockey to lacrosse, and had a blast.
Lacrosse in particular piqued my interest. Before Cornell I had never watched a lacrosse game in my life, but I found the sport so entertaining, with a gameday atmosphere unlike anything else I’ve ever experienced at Cornell (besides hockey, of course). Junior year, I attended all the men’s team’s home games during the season and even some away ones, and what a ride it was. The Red won the national championship that year, and I was there covering every single game along the way. I was capturing history with my camera: from CJ Kirst breaking the NCAA all-time scoring record, to the team standing alone atop of the nation. I can proudly say that I recorded those moments in my viewfinder, making my own lasting mark through my photos. That, I think, is what is so appealing about photography to me. The ability to capture an emotion, an interaction, a life-defining moment in an enduring fashion every time I press the shutter makes the medium so special.
What I’ve also learned in the past few years is that photography is truly a community, bolstered by social media along with the shareable and accessible nature of pictures. Nothing makes me happier than having a player use my photo as their profile picture, getting my images published in a Sun article or a parent reaching out asking for their kid’s photos from a game. There is something so fulfilling about creating material that is appreciated by others, which is what I always keep top of mind when committing hours upon hours of work to covering a game in the pouring rain or doing a graduation shoot. Meeting and connecting with other photographers during a game or event is always a plus, too.
All that said, when I look back in 30 years or so on my time at Cornell, the impact I’ve had with my photography will be what I remember and cherish the most. I sometimes have that lingering feeling that I’m only an observer in my own life, but one of the most important lessons that photography has taught me is to become more grounded in the moment … in the here and now. Photography is a medium through which I can document my journey through life, however daunting that may feel right now just weeks away from graduation. So, while I continue to play “Landslide” and dwell in nostalgia for something that is not yet even over, I remind myself to focus on the now and actually make the memories that future me will look back on through pictures. My photos app on my phone currently contains 22,358 images, and I look forward to adding to that number as I start the next chapter of my life.
Timmy Xi is a member of the Class of 2026 in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is a staff photographer and can be reached at txi@cornellsun.com.
