Pittwire’s pictures of the year

Vaccines and portraits and in-person classes … these are a few of our favorite things.

The photographers in the Office of University Communications and Marketing, Tom Altany, Mike Drazdzinski and Aimee Obidzinski, reflect on a year that seemed to pass in the blink of an eye by sharing some of their favorite and most memorable moments they captured on the Pittsburgh campus in 2021.

The year began with the great anticipation and hope that COVID-19 vaccinations would bring us back to some semblance of normalcy, and so they did. How sweet it was to see the campuses populated again with students, faculty and staff.

Like an image that slowly came into focus, more and more people returned until the streets seemed to burst back to life with the start of the fall term: From clinics and volunteer work that made a difference in the community to research that pushed the boundaries of knowledge forward, our people and programs persevered. The year ended on a high note with women’s volleyball making it to the NCAA quarterfinals (cheer for them on Dec. 16 against Nebraska) and the football team conquering the Atlantic Coast Conference — not to mention quarterback Kenny Pickett’s run for the Heisman Trophy (watch them play in the Peach Bowl on Dec. 30).

The cloud of the coronavirus might be lingering but it certainly didn’t stop us Panthers.

Here are 20 moments the photographers and Pittwire team thought you might want to revisit.

— Aimee Obidzinski