Photo by Ari Ismail for The Lafayette

Adam Atkinson, the former director of photography and videography, worked at Lafayette College for five years.

Lafayette College’s director of photography and videography — and advisor of the cycling house — has left the college after five years in the communications division.

Adam Atkinson, the director, will be joining Bethlehem-based marketing agency Meris Communications as a photographer.

“I’m kind of at the top of the hierarchy and there’s really nowhere else for me to go, unless I were to transition my entire career into more communications role, and I’m just not interested in that,” he said.

His position is currently vacant, with freelancers being hired in the short term, according to college spokesman Scott Morse.

Atkinson joined the college in January 2020. He spearheaded the “Quiet Spaces” campaign, which highlighted empty buildings on campus while students attended class virtually in spring 2020.

“I think it did a lot for people to want to come back, at least that was some of the feedback that we got from the series,” Atkinson said.

He added that he was very proud of that project and what the division “did in those months and years that helped keep the college marketable.”

He also said he reworked how the photography and videography team captures commencement, building a schedule that transitioned the college from taking a week to go through content to having everything ready by the end of the day.

Atkinson said he spent a lot of time “advocating for the autonomy of photo and video” at the college.

“We don’t just serve communications, but handle requests from all sorts of different academic divisions for different things,” he said.

He could frequently be spotted at events and on the Quad looking for candid moments.

“I just want to be a safe presence for people on a college campus,” Atkinson said.

“Obviously, Lafayette’s campus is so beautiful and picturesque, but I think he does a great job finding the littler things to highlight,” said Mia Putzi ‘26, who recently participated in a photo shoot with Atkinson for the communications division’s “In the Classroom” series.

Olivia Giralico, the college’s video marketing producer, said Atkinson was a “really great mentor.”

“I think just his approachive-ness and how kind he was to everybody really helped his photographs shine,” Giralico said.

Atkinson’s time at Lafayette has made him more “technically diverse.”

“I like to approach everything from a more creative angle, and I think that working every day with designers and people creating things for admissions, I’ve gained a perspective for safer, cleaner photography,” he said.

Atkinson reflects positively on his Lafayette career.

“There’s ups and downs in any position, but I think the ups have far outweighed the downs,” he said. “Lafayette will be okay.”