How I got published in TIME

Tents surround protesters as they gather at Rutgers University's College Avenue campus in New Brunswick, N.J., Friday, May 2, 2024. (Photo/Evan Leong)

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - On Tuesday, May 14, 2024, my photograph was published in TIME Magazine. It was definitely the coolest moment of my young career so far.

TIME put together a feature spotlighting what student photojournalists documented from pro-Palestinian protests across large U.S. universities, including Princeton, UCLA, USC, University of Michigan and Northwestern.

Unlike many other universities, the protests on the Rutgers campus were peaceful, despite tensions between pro-Palestinian student organizations and the campus administration. I aimed to capture that through my photos of the pro-Palestine encampment on campus, which local and national news outlets also covered.

To capture the photo, I climbed to the top of a lecture hall, where members of Pro-Palestinian student organizations had gathered inside classrooms to shelter from the heat. Leaning out of the window, I used the tree to create a sense of symmetry and emphasize the abundance of tents on one side, and protestors on the other. Leaving plenty of “headspace” above the subjects — the tents and protestors — provided a greater sense of scope, showing just how massive the protest was.

In early May, a photo editor from TIME emailed me about possibly publishing my photo in their piece. You can read the full feature here.