Athletics focus: the photography of Daniel Oren ’27
By Adam Levin ’94 and Julian Cardillo ’14
August 5, 2025
Daniel Oren ’27 immortalizes seminal moments in athletic competitions. A photographer armed with his Nikon camera and an instinct for knowing how to be in the right place at the right time, regardless of the sport he’s documenting, his photographic prowess is evident in the artistry of his shots.
He captures vivid jets of color showing the swift, authoritative motion of a well-timed baseball swing; the silhouette of a soccer player taking possession of the ball beneath a setting sun; the blissful smiles of Judges teammates when one of their own sinks a three-pointer; and hundreds of other photos that also tell stories worth a thousand words.
Oren’s work showcases the technique, skill, emotion and triumph that make sports so compelling.
His journey behind the lens started on his quiet neighborhood streets, where a GoPro and a curious eye offered an early escape. Now a seasoned shooter, president of the Brandeis Photography Club, contributor to the Brandeis Athletics sports information department and Sound and Image Media Studios staff member, Oren approaches each shot with intent — eschewing bursts of images for the challenge of a single, deliberate click.
The following is a selection of Oren’s best work from the 2024–25 season: moments frozen in time by a photographer who sees sports not just as action, but as art.
“I was looking for something different, and at that moment, I had thought to myself that I'd really never experimented with a slow shutter speed, particularly at night. So the game was getting late, and I didn't really know what to do, so I decided, OK, I'll punch in and I'll try and see what I can get. And after some post processing, it looks really distinct — not like a photograph as much as an oil painting.”
“It was getting late and I wanted to take a photograph of a silhouette, which means exposing for the sky, not the player, and you work with the shadow. There are only so many photos I can take of soccer players bouncing the ball off their chest, so I thought that this was a really cool way to show the beauty of the moment.”
“Volleyball is a beautiful sport because players celebrate all the time — it's easy to photograph happy players. After every single point, they come together and high-five and reset themselves. I think it's this cool dynamic that encapsulates the great chemistry the volleyball team has.”
“Danny has one of the more exuberant playing styles on the men's tennis team. Other players don't necessarily slide as much or have as extravagant a wraparound in their follow-through, whereas with Danny, the racket moves a lot, he's sliding around the court, and he really gets acrobatic. You can really see the beauty of balance, core strength and hand-eye coordination, all in one photograph.”
“Toby loves dunking. I love this photograph. You can see Emory's players in the background, almost looking defeated as Toby is just going up, in this animated manner, just looking to bring it home. You can see the fans, in relation to the hoop, in relation to Toby.”
“I love swimming photographs because you can see all of the water on the back of the athletes, and it almost looks like they're covered in a sheen. Taking photographs of water moving with a fast shutter speed is an immaculate thing because water looks very unnatural. You can see Isaac was coming up from the water, and you can see all of the water coming down from his chin and his chest as he's exerting a lot of pressure coming backwards. And it makes for this beautiful photograph where you can see that he’s leaps and bounds ahead of other people. And he's just exerting a lot of pressure, which is why there's nobody else in any of the lanes.”
Read more about Daniel Oren ’27 on the Brandeis Athletics website.
