Matt Riley, senior photographer
Sometimes the best-laid plans don’t produce the best outcomes.
When UVA Today senior photographer Matt Riley set out to photograph Brian Douglas – a kinesiology student, All-America wheelchair tennis player and two-time para-swimming national champion nearing graduation – he planned to shoot outside Douglas’ apartment, focusing on both him and the prosthetic legs he built himself.
After scouting the location, Riley realized a different angle might work better. He took the originally planned photo, then asked Douglas for a few more minutes.
“The clouds were incredible that day,” Riley said. “That’s when it became the perfect shot – you could really see the prosthetics.”
Riley knew he had it when Douglas later told him he’d shared the image with lots of people.
One of Riley’s favorite photos took weeks of planning and extensive teamwork. To photograph four-time Olympic medalist Gretchen Walsh, Riley worked with Wes Geyer, an aquatics technician who helped build a custom platform that made Walsh appear to be standing on water.
“When she saw it, she was a little concerned,” Riley said. “But we had planned for everything,” including having a kayak ready to take Walsh out to the platform and keep her hair dry.
The shoot itself lasted less than an hour, but Riley said it’s the collaboration behind the image that makes it special. “I love the photo,” he said, “but my favorite part was everyone working together to make it happen.”
Riley’s third favorite photo came from patience and repetition. For weeks, he and fellow photographer Lathan Goumas returned again and again to the Pratt ginkgo tree on Grounds, tracking the slow transformation of its leaves.
“We spent a lot of time at that tree,” Riley said. “I’d go over around lunchtime every day, walk the same route, and try to shoot something a little different.”
When the leaves reached their peak, Riley waited for nightfall. “The very first shot was probably my favorite, because the sky was this really vibrant blue,” he said. “But as I kept shooting, runners came by, which gave the photo more life, and the glow of the leaves on the ground bounced back up onto them.”
Lathan Goumas, photographer
When Goumas began working at UVA, he was drawn to the variety of assignments – from documenting cutting-edge research to capturing the joy of Final Exercises.
“This photo was my first assignment after joining University Communications. It was during a ‘Friday Rest Fest’ event at the University of Virginia’s Contemplative Commons.”
The image was conceived to reflect a sense of calm and stillness. Because the sound bath had already begun, Goumas stayed outside the room to avoid disturbing the experience. Shooting through a window, light filtered in from behind the sound practitioner, naturally creating a silhouette.
“Silhouettes can be difficult because they can be cliché, but I feel like this one fits the mood of the story and the mood of the event quite nicely.”
Another assignment led Goumas and University Communications colleagues to the Mountain Lake Biological Station in Southwest Virginia in July. The team joined students from the UVA Field Biology of Fishes course on a sampling trip. The story, photos and video brought the activity to life as readers got up close and personal with the wildlife.
“This student was examining a fish he had just caught. He turned the device, the viewer, so that he was looking basically directly into the fish’s eyes. That created this nice moment where you could see his eyes as he was looking at the fish’s eyes.”
Goumas’ other favorite image celebrated the abilities of third-year UVA student Hannah Zook, a competing member of the USA Para Climbing National Team.
“When we got the story, we knew we wanted to do something different to really show her amazing abilities. She was game for the idea of climbing halfway up a wall and hanging down over this overhang so we could get a picture of her demonstrating her climbing ability. It was great to create something unique and interesting to go with the really cool story.”
Erin Edgerton, social media manager
For Erin Edgerton, University Communication’s social media manager, images should feel meaningful. When she had the chance to photograph then-student writer Renee Grutzik for a story reflecting on her time at UVA Today, the goal was simple: Make it special.
“I wanted her to feel celebrated,” Edgerton said. After working with Grutzik for three years, Edgerton saw the photo as a way to honor the young writer’s growth. Rather than shooting on Grounds, the team chose the office – the place where Grutzik spent much of her time (and still does, as the first UVA Today fellow). “That space mattered,” Edgerton said.
Using dramatic lighting and Grutzik’s cap and gown, Edgerton aimed to create a moment that felt like a capstone. “It was about marking the end of a season,” she said, and showing future interns that “this is a place where student work is valued.”
Edgerton also chose a photo from one of her favorite annual events: the first day of class pop-up, now in its fourth year.
“It’s becoming a really anticipated tradition, and that feels special,” Edgerton said.
During the hourslong event, Edgerton said students often linger, taking photos to send home. “It’s not just about the picture,” she said. “It marks the start of the semester. It’s a flag on the day.”
Seeing familiar faces return year after year has made Grounds feel smaller. “That builds community,” Edgerton said. “Photography is meant to make something feel special, and I think this does exactly that.”
Edgerton, who earned her drone license a year ago, chose one aerial image as a favorite for how fleeting the moment was. She and videographer Kelly West initially sent the drone up to capture fall foliage.
“The first flight was fine,” Edgerton said. “You could tell the leaves had changed, but then the battery died.”
After a quick reset and battery swap, Edgerton sent the drone back up. “It was probably in the sky for less than a minute,” she said. “We knew it was happening when we saw the light. It was phenomenal.”
Only after landing and reviewing the footage did they realize how narrowly they had caught it. “If we had waited another 30 seconds, we would have completely missed it,” she said.
Tobias Wilbur, art director
“Illustrations are often the first and loudest point of entry for the reader. Like a window display or a roadside sign spinner, it’s the illustrator’s job to pull you in. I hope to make something emotive, whimsical or so nonsensical that people have to stop and step inside,” art director Tobias Wilbur said.
And with that philosophy in mind, Wilbur set out to create the animated illustration to accompany a recent UVA Today story about Tucker the goldendoodle, who was involved in a courtroom custody fight.
“The headline was about a custody battle between two people, but I kept thinking, ‘What about the dog?’ I’m always looking for the emotional core of a story – the line or sentiment that sticks with me and feels like it carries the most meaning. That’s often what I build from, because our job is to make something compelling and human. In that way, we’re partly responsible for whether a piece connects with readers. For me, it always starts with doing justice to someone else’s work.”
When working on an illustration to accompany a story about how online dating started, Wilbur knew he wanted to bring together two very different concepts.
“I wanted to marry the ideas of this really innately human desire for love and connection with a digital platform. It seemed like an easy mix of a beating heart in an eight-bit digital language.”
Another of Wilbur’s favorite projects involved working with writer Jane Kelly and other members of the University Communications creative team to illustrate a story about a new study linking early smartphone use to higher risks of depression, obesity and insufficient sleep.
“We kept asking how to show screen time entering life as early as possible, and that led us to a playful visual approach to what is actually a serious, potentially destructive issue,” Wilbur said. “The goal was to draw people in first – and then make them stop and think.”
John DiJulio, digital designer
For digital designer John DiJulio, UVA Today illustrations serve a clear purpose: helping readers quickly grasp key ideas.
“I see the illustrations as a way to visually summarize or highlight important bullet points,” said DiJulio, who has worked in University Communications for two years.
One of his favorite illustrations from this year accompanied a story examining youth voter turnout and its impact. DiJulio initially experimented with a collage showing a young adult skipping the polls, but the concept felt “cluttered.” His inspiration came from his own voting experience.
“I got one of those ‘I Voted’ stickers,” he said. “I thought if I just changed the text to ‘Didn’t Vote,’ it would say it all.”
When creating an image to accompany Alice Berry’s story on companies tightening return policies as the holiday shopping season began, DiJulio worked closely with his team to develop a piece of visual storytelling.
“There was an early version that wasn’t animated, but we kept refining it,” DiJulio said. “The one we went with shows the return travel to its destination, and then a funny finger sends it back. There was something really satisfying about that animation that I liked.”
DiJulio said his final favorite illustration of 2025 was “purely aesthetic.” Created for a story asking whether screen time is ruining sleep, the image offered a clear answer.
“There’s a quality to the illustration that makes it feel like it’s actually glowing,” he said. “The big, tired eyes and the phone – this black void in front of the face – just worked.”
