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UPDATE: This story was updated at 1:19 p.m. on April 30, 2026.

Less than two weeks before graduation, caps went airborne, gowns flowed and scraps of champagne labels covered the sidewalks of Syracuse University’s campus.

One of those soon-to-be SU graduates was Marcia Ciriello’s daughter.

Ciriello, a New York City-based photographer, had never taken college graduation photos. On Friday, that changed; Ciriello traveled to SU to photograph her daughter and six of her friends.

“It was really lovely to be able to have them and also just see your daughter not just as your daughter, but as this person, this lovely adult that’s moving on to this new phase of life,” Ciriello said.

On that sunny April day in Syracuse, students sprawled out on the lawns and others attended Block Party’s Soundcheck. But Ciriello, a full-time photographer who’s owned her business for around 25 years, buzzed around SU’s Hall of Languages snapping graduation photos of her daughter and her friends. But she wasn’t the only one, with plenty of others navigating SU’s campus to take photos of graduates.

“I think there’s incredible growth that happens between freshman year and senior year, and they go from these sort of scared freshmen to beautiful, accomplished women,” Ciriello said.

Marcia Ciriello sits on the ground as she photographs one of her daughter’s friend’s graduation photos. Though Ciriello is based in New York City, she made a trip up to Syracuse to photograph her daughter and her friend’s graduation photos. Eli Schwartz | Asst. Photo Editor

Meanwhile, on the steps outside Crouse College, Francesca Vasconi, an SU senior studying sport management, photographed women’s ice hockey player Maya D’Arcy, who donned her own jersey.

Vasconi, who was a social media intern for the hockey team for roughly two years, started taking graduation photos this spring but received her first camera in high school. She mainly captures graduation flicks for friends that are also members of the team, she said.

“These athletes I’ve known since they were freshmen, and now I’m photographing them as seniors, we’ve kind of grown up together,” Vasconi said. “It’s been really fun and really bittersweet.”

Just across from the Crouse steps, Hayden Kim, an SU graduate student studying business administration, held his camera. Kim shot students’ portraits outside the Newhouse School of Public Communications’ First Amendment-etched glass wall.

Kim graduated from Newhouse last May with a degree in magazine, news and digital journalism, but he’s been practicing photography for four years — two years professionally. He said he learned camera techniques from his executive producer role on Orange Television Network’s “The Esports Juice Box” show. Kim said his journalism background has helped him; he asks unfamiliar clients interview-style questions to get to know them during shoots.

Kim started taking graduation photos last year, including some for his best friend Anthony Solt. Kim had a summer internship in Solt’s hometown in Denver, so he shot Solt’s SU graduation photos in exchange for summer housing, Kim said.

“By the time I moved out there, his dad had already printed out a bunch of the grad pictures and hung them around his house,” Kim said. “So I walked into the house, and I saw all of my own pictures that I took, which is kind of crazy.”

For Malcolm Taylor, an SU senior majoring in photography, his favorite graduation photo collaboration was with a close friend, Layla Abudayeh, who graduated with a fashion design degree last May.

Taylor and Abudayeh had experience working together at Major Magazine, and Taylor photographed Abudayeh’s senior thesis fashion design collection. Abudayeh described their collaboration as “effortless.”

“When it came time for my grad photos, I texted him the most random blurb of like, ‘I want majestic (photos)’ and really niche adjectives of what kind of photos I wanted,” Abudayeh said. “And he was like, ‘OK, we could do that.’ He just completely understood.”

For the photo shoot, they had one location planned — a stairwell inside Crouse featuring stained-glass windows. Taylor and Abudayeh walked up and down that Crouse stairwell 30 to 40 times, Abudayeh said, experimenting with the light shining through the windows to get various shots.

Outside of that, every location was spontaneously chosen. Abudayeh said she trusted Taylor’s creativity — after all, Taylor did mention he started taking photos at age 2.

“There was a really special and natural energy to those photos and to the whole shoot,” Taylor said. “But also it felt extra special because she was going to be graduating and going to be gone, it was kind of our last time seeing each other at that point, too.”

Hayden Kim takes advantage of the sunny weather as he photographs Jackie Arbogast’s graduation photos. Kim has been practicing photography for four years, but only started doing it professionally two years ago. Eli Schwartz | Asst. Photo Editor

Corey Sulser, who also worked with Taylor at Major Magazine, said she appreciated having a friend take photos of her and her roommates. Sulser, who graduated from SU in May 2024, said oftentimes photo shoots can be “serious” and sometimes “aggressive,” but Taylor made her session “comfortable” and “chill.” She said it was a nice break from the stress that arises with graduating.

“He just made it super relaxing. It did not feel like a task or a chore,” Sulser said. “It just felt like a fun hanging-out-with-friends activity. It took a solid amount of stress off of my plate.”

Though Sulser’s session was brief and featured basic photo locations, she said Taylor still made the experience special.

Another special moment was when Vasconi photographed her best friend from freshman year, now-SU senior Izzy Carlino, on Sunday.

“It was just very full circle. I looked at her and I was like, ‘I can’t believe we’re going from being the little freshmen in BBB, and now I’m wearing my grad regalia, and we’re taking photos together and just sharing this moment,’” Carlino, who’s studying advertising and marketing management, said.

Capturing photos for one of her first friends at SU was nostalgic, Vasconi said. As freshmen, they were figuring out college, and now they’ve grown into who they are today.

On the other side of the lens, Vasconi said she didn’t put much thought into her own graduation photos; she put her friends first. Vasconi and Taylor are both having their friends snap their graduation flicks, they said.

Once Taylor finishes photographing his friends, they will turn the lens toward him. Taylor said he’s excited to see what his friends without photography experience come up with.

Taylor enjoys that people trust him with their graduation photos — a culmination of their four-year journey.

While taking photos of her daughter, Ciriello said she became emotional — necessitating a few breaks. Days before the session, Ciriello found her daughter’s preschool diploma. In less than two weeks, her daughter will receive the college version.

Ciriello said graduating college feels much bigger than graduating high school; you’re not moving to college, you’re going into your life and career.

“There’s just a little bit of a different feeling of separation I think, when you graduate from college, and I was feeling that from them,” Ciriello said. “It was beautiful to watch them together and all the emotions they were going through.”

Disclaimer: Malcolm Taylor is a staff photographer for The Daily Orange. Taylor did not influence the editorial content of this article.

Published on April 30, 2026 at 12:17 am
Contact Joel: jdpelach@syr.edu