A graduate holds flowers and turns toward the camera on a path in front of Old Main.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY
JINGYI (VICTOR) LIPENN STATE / HERSHEY
MAY 2026

One robe, several thresholds

AFTER
THE WALK

CEREMONY / CAMPUS / EVENING05
ENTER ISSUE 05 ↓

24 PHOTOGRAPHS · ISSUE 05

The formal moment
became personal.

The ceremony is only the first scene. The real issue unfolds afterward: walking across a familiar campus in unfamiliar clothes, repeating the cap toss until time briefly holds it in the air, carrying flowers, and making portraits at the places that gave the years their shape.

PENN STATE / HERSHEY · CEREMONY / CAMPUS / EVENING
Wide view of a crowded Penn State graduation arena centered on the stage and scoreboard.
01THE ROOMBefore one name is called, the whole room holds the scale of the day.
Graduation stage with Penn State banners, large screens, faculty, and rows of graduates in the foreground.
02THE NAME OF THE DAYThe stage makes an institution visible; the caps in front make it personal.
Close portrait of a smiling graduate beside the Hershey Center for Applied Research sign.
03THE WORK BEHIND ITA hand on the marker, a blue hood at the shoulder: the work resolves into evidence.
Full-length graduate in cap and gown standing on a sunlit campus hillside.
04HARD SPRING LIGHTNoon light asks for certainty; the full figure answers without retreat.
Woman holding flowers beneath a large tree with Penn State Old Main visible across the lawn.
05OLD MAIN, HELDIn the last sun beneath the branches, Old Main becomes part of a private portrait.
Graduate seen from behind walking toward broad campus stairs at dusk.
06THE WALK BEGINSThe path rises into dusk, and the blue hood carries the last color forward.
Full-length graduate facing the camera at the foot of broad Penn State campus stairs.
07FRONT OF THE STEPSBefore climbing, the graduate meets the stairs face-on and lets their symmetry hold the portrait.
Back view of a graduate in black gown and bright blue hood walking up broad campus stairs.
08BLUE DOWN THE STAIRSThe hood catches what is left of the day while the steps keep their measured rhythm.
Graduate reaching toward a mortarboard suspended in the gray sky above the research center sign.
09AIRBORNEFor one second, the cap leaves the evidence behind.
Black graduation cap caught among thin tree branches beneath a gray sky.
10CAUGHT IN THE BRANCHESThe cap misses the open sky and becomes, for a moment, a black mark held by spring branches.
Graduate jumping and throwing a cap above a straight campus path under overcast light.
11THE PATH LEAVES THE GROUNDOne throw turns the straight campus path into a brief vertical line.
Wide view of Penn State Old Main with a graduate close to the camera at the lower edge.
12TOWER, CLOSEThe portrait gives most of itself to Old Main; the graduate enters only at the lower edge.
Graduate looking up at a falling mortarboard with Old Main directly behind.
13WATCHING IT FALLThe cap comes down beside the tower, and the body turns upward before the catch.
Graduate standing in a broad victory pose on the Old Main lawn.
14THE GROUND ANSWERSAfter the cap returns, the stance opens wide enough to hold the whole lawn.
Mortarboard flying through a vivid blue sky above Old Main tower and a flag.
15CAP AND TOWERA small dark square crosses the same blue field as the tower and flag.
Graduate adjusting a mortarboard while walking across the lawn in front of Old Main.
16SETTLING THE CAPBetween gestures, both hands return to the cap and the lawn becomes quiet again.
Graduate raising a bouquet beside the Old Main armillary sphere sculpture.
17ORBIT, RAISEDFlowers rise beside the bronze rings, turning a formal campus object into a celebratory one.
Woman in a dark green dress beneath a huge tree with Old Main tower across the lawn.
18EVENING WITNESSAt the edge of the frame, a second portrait keeps watch beneath the oldest branches.
Soft profile of a woman holding flowers in front of a monumental tree and low sun near Old Main.
19SUN THROUGH THE BOUQUETThe old tree holds its edge in evening light while flowers, profile, and flare drift toward memory.
Graduate turning back toward the camera with a bouquet on a tree-lined campus path.
20TURNING BACKOne last turn carries red flowers through the green corridor of the campus.
Graduate with flowers standing on a campus path as a squirrel sits nearby.
21SMALL COMPANYA squirrel enters the portrait without ceremony and earns its place in the walk.
Wide environmental portrait of a graduate with flowers in front of Beaver Stadium.
22STADIUM SCALEThe stadium turns the portrait back into architecture, distance, and institution.
Full-length graduate with bouquet standing in front of Beaver Stadium and the Nittany Lion logo.
23UNDER THE MARKA full figure stands beneath the Nittany Lion mark, small enough to show what was reached.
Joyful graduate holding flowers and giving a thumbs-up with Beaver Stadium softly behind.
24LAST LIGHTFlowers, a raised thumb, and the last stadium light make the day feel briefly unfinished.