Egyptology alum discovered his means again to Yale by way of sports activities images

Courtesy of Dave Rudin

When Dave Rudin GRD ’85 first approached Yale Athletics Director Vicky Chun on the sideline of the 2018 Yale soccer sport towards the University of Maine, he wasn’t certain what to anticipate. 

“I thought, instead of sending an email and getting it bounced around the athletic department, let me go straight to the top. So, I found Vicky Chun on the field,” Rudin stated in a telephone interview. “The worst they could say was no.”

They stated sure, and now, seven seasons later, Rudin, whose pictures have been printed within the News, has turn into a fixture on Yale sidelines at soccer, volleyball and ladies’s lacrosse video games as a volunteer photographer identified for his detailed sports activities images that captures each the triumph and the battle of athletes. His path to Yale video games, nonetheless, winds again by way of historic languages, highschool newspapers and even the ruins of Egypt.

From The Vanguard to Washington Square News

Rudin picked up a love for journalism in highschool, when he wrote for his highschool newspaper, The Vanguard. 

“I liked to write. That’s one way to put it,” Rudin stated with amusing. “One of my English teachers even commented on my rambling style of writing. I guess I’m someone who writes by the pound.”

After graduating from John Dewey High School in Brooklyn in 1977, Rudin went to New York University from 1977 to 1981 and studied Near Eastern Languages and Classical Civilization. 

At NYU, Rudin joined Washington Square News, the scholar newspaper, working first as a reporter after which as sports activities editor in his sophomore and junior years. He coated basketball, volleyball, wrestling, soccer, tennis and wrestling, whereas additionally experimenting with structure and images.

“Laying out the paper taught me a lot about framing an image. I learned to always position a photo so people are looking into the page, not off it,” Rubin stated. “That’s something that still affects how I frame a picture today.”

Rudin’s ardour for images got here from his father, Sidney, who taught him methods to use his Alta SR digital camera.

“I thought the ‘SR’ on the model stood for ‘Sidney Rudin,’” Rudin joked, “but it was just the model name.”

Besides his sports activities images, Rudin additionally does high-quality artwork and journey images in black and white. A collection of his images taken on the annual Carnevale in Venice won the top prize last year in the non-professional class of the Pollux Awards, a serious worldwide images competitors.

Yale, Egypt and a detour into finance

After graduating from NYU in 1981, Rudin got here to Yale to delve into Egyptology. A linguaphile, Rudin studied French, Egyptian and Akkadian at Yale, including to a language repertoire that already included Spanish, Hebrew, German and Japanese. 

Though he earned a grasp’s diploma in Ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern Studies, Rudin left Yale earlier than finishing his dissertation. 

“I felt isolated in a small department,” he stated. “I saw the same handful of people every day and basically there was no opportunity to meet new people.”

Rudin determined to go away New Haven and return dwelling to New York City, the place he obtained what he known as a  “practical degree” — an MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business. Rudin has labored for the New York City Department of Finance for many of his profession, in keeping with his LinkedIn profile.

In 2025, Rudin enrolled at a University of Edinburgh digital program to pursue a grasp’s diploma in Ancient Worlds, seeking to reconnect together with his educational passions.

Returning to Yale by way of the digital camera lens

Rudin first returned to Yale after his days on the Graduate School in 2016, when a pal invited him to a Doctor Who conference occurring in New Haven and a efficiency of Othello on the School of Drama. While on the town, he determined to attend a soccer sport. 

“Even though I’m a photographer, I purposely left my camera at home,” he stated. “I wanted to experience Yale and New Haven directly through my eyes.”

As Rudin strolled previous the Humanities Quadrangle, the place he had taken many courses, and walked alongside York Street, he stated he was flooded with reminiscences and have become emotional.

“I thought to myself, maybe it’s time that I tried to reconnect with the University.”

The subsequent yr, he introduced a digital camera. In 2018, he approached Chun and Ann-Marie Guglieri, who additionally works within the athletic division, on the sphere. 

They gave him credentials, and by the tip of that season, Rudin had shot a number of soccer video games. 

“Anne-Marie wrote back saying, ‘Dave, your pictures are great. You can photograph whatever you want,’” Rudin stated, and from there, his journey taking footage of Yale athletes formally started.

Rudin additionally reconnected with Yale by becoming a member of the Graduate School Alumni Fund. Since 2019, he has volunteered as a funding agent, writing letters and emails to fellow alumni.

As a first-generation scholar, and having been the recipient of a full fellowship and stipend, Rudin stated he believed strongly in paying it ahead.

“I have always felt I should give back so that other future students get the same benefit,” Rudin stated. 

Rudin’s new function on the Alumni Fund introduced him to New Haven in 2019 for the annual Alumni Assembly, held the Thursday and Friday earlier than the ultimate dwelling soccer sport, which was the annual Yale-Harvard Game that yr. Although he wasn’t certain he was going to be permitted area entry at The Game, Rudin introduced alongside his digital camera tools.

While he was consuming lunch on the Omni on Thursday afternoon earlier than The Game, he obtained a name granting him permission to take images on the 136th enjoying of the Yale-Harvard sport. However, Rudin awakened subsequent morning to seek out that he had a posterior vitreous attachment on his left eye, the attention he makes use of to take footage.

Despite describing it as an “amoeba” floating on his eye, Rudin didn’t let it stand in his means of photographing this historic sport.

In the 2019 sport, which went down in historical past for a scholar protest at halftime that delayed play for nearly an hour, the Yale crew was down by 17 in the course of the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs made a historic rally and threw the sport into double extra time, a second Rudin stated he’ll always remember. 

“If someone had told me that one day I would be attending the Yale Alumni Assembly and the next day I’d be photographing the Yale-Harvard game on the field, I would’ve told him that they were crazy,” Rudin stated. “When I was a student, I felt isolated. Now, through the alumni community and photography, I feel more a part of Yale than ever before.”

Rudin has since photographed in any respect eight Ivy League soccer stadiums and created picture books of Yale-Harvard video games. He has expanded to ladies’s sports activities, photographing volleyball since 2023 and ladies’s lacrosse since 2024. 

His dedication to photographing Yale athletes usually takes him far past New Haven. In 2023, when Yale soccer performed at Brown and volleyball competed at Harvard on the identical day, Rudin made the trek from New York to {photograph} each video games in Providence and Cambridge.

“I photographed two Yale sporting events on the same day in two different states,” he stated with amusing.

Two years in the past, when he drove to Princeton for a Friday volleyball match after which to Penn for Saturday’s sport, his automotive broke down and he needed to pay his personal cash to repair it, Rudin stated. The similar factor occurred once more over the weekend after he traveled to Lehigh University for a soccer sport. 

Parents like Maggie Yang, mom of defensive lineman Dylan Yang ’26, have seen that dedication. 

“Dave is just so committed. Literally, he’s always there, camera in hand, capturing every moment at home or away games,” Yang wrote to the News. “It shows that he cares about the players and what this team stands for and that means a lot to us parents. To have these moments captured in a photo is precious and timeless.” 

Reflecting on his resolution to increase his images to ladies’s sports activities, Rudin stated he wished to spotlight the grit of feminine athletes.

“I photograph big strong men with football, so maybe I should photograph some big strong women,” Rudin stated.

Capturing the human situation

For Rudin, sports activities images is not only about victories. 

“Sports are about the human condition,” he stated. “It’s not just happy people celebrating. You have to show the bad with the good sometimes.”

He recalled one picture of quarterback Griffin O’Connor ’22 sitting hunched over on the sideline throughout a tough sport, “looking like what more could go wrong.” 

Rudin posted the picture on Facebook, and O’Connor’s grandmother messaged him, expressing appreciation for Rudin’s genuine portrayal of athletes. 

Athletes additionally discover Rudin’s dedication. 

“I think he does a great job capturing our emotions,” volleyball participant Betsy Goodenow ’27 wrote to the News. “Every picture tells a story. We really appreciate the support we get from Mr. Rudin—he travels to away games and comes to lots of home games. To have a dedicated person like that in your corner means a lot.”

Although NCAA laws forestall Rudin from sharing his images instantly with the athletes as a result of it might be thought of a type of fee, Rudin shares his images with Yale dad and mom and on-line by way of his Instagram web page.

Yang stated Rudin’s work gives dad and mom a glimpse into the spirit of the crew that they not often get to see from the stands.

“His pictures capture the emotion of the players regardless of where they are positioned on the field or sideline throughout the entire game,” Yang wrote. “Some of the pictures are not about the big plays, he catches those little moments of mental toughness and connection that make this team so special.” 

Yang’s favourite image Rudin has captured is certainly one of her son kneeling and praying on the 50-yard line, in reminiscence of his highschool teammate Steven Sanon, who wore the quantity 50 and handed away. 

“I even made a sticker emoji out of it,” she stated.

A quiet, fixed presence on the sidelines

Despite his lengthy tenure, Rudin is cautious to not overstep boundaries. 

“I try not to get too personal with players,” he stated. “But when I get to know someone a little bit, it makes my pictures more meaningful. They’re not just names anymore.”

Rudin’s presence has made him a fixture on Yale sidelines. 

“Whether we’re at the Bowl waiting for the players to run out or at the tailgate lot watching families and friends interact, Dave captures it all,” Yang wrote. “His photos bring players who come over, families, and friends together.”

On any given weekend, Rudin might be on the sidelines with a digital camera in hand and eyes targeted on the story unfolding in entrance of him.

“I feel more like a Yalie now than I did when I was a student,” Rudin stated. “This is my way of supporting the athletes and giving back to the University.”

Yale Athletics is headquartered in Ray Tompkins House, at 20 Tower Parkway.