Photos can evoke nostalgia and jog memory in a way that few other mediums can. It’s not uncommon to read comments on Kenyon’s social media channels from alumni who, upon seeing a photo of campus, feel transported — for a moment, recalling the specific sensation of walking down Middle Path, late to class, even if they haven’t set foot on campus in decades.

In honor of Kenyon’s bicentennial, we’re celebrating the students, faculty and staff who have lived in and changed Gambier over the past two centuries, and those who are just beginning their journeys here. In re-creating archival Kenyon photos, we decided to focus on students. From the 1940s on, we’ve selected photos from Kenyon’s archives and worked with student photographers and models to re-create them on campus in a contemporary context.

The goal of this project is to celebrate those quintessentially Kenyon moments that connect our greater community, while acknowledging how much Kenyon — and the community within it — continues to evolve.

In this photo, Lera Lukianova ’26 worked with two members of Kenyon’s track and field team, Joe Hindle ’24 and Emmanuel Makelele ’25, to re-create a photo (unidentified, but thought to be from the 1950s-60s) of two students horsing around at Middle Path’s College Gates.

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“It does not matter whether you graduated decades ago or are just about to,” said Lukianova, a biology major from Kyiv, Ukraine. “The joy of taking a walk on Middle Path or grabbing dinner with friends at Peirce Dining Hall is known to everyone.”

To view the complete series, follow @Kenyon-College on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook for updates.