Dog Photography at Atlanta’s Georgia Tech Campus
Georgia Tech's campus sits right in the heart of Atlanta, and most people drive past it without thinking twice about what's inside.
As a dog photographer, I see it completely differently.
Public art sculptures that double as dramatic backdrops. Historic brick architecture. Flower beds at Tech Square that photograph like an open field. And if you time it right — if you arrive at sunrise before students start moving through — you'll have one of Atlanta's most visually interesting spaces almost entirely to yourself.
UGA might have "Uga", but Georgia Tech had Sideways
Sideways, The Dog
• A white terrier with black patches on her face
• She came to Tech in March 1945, when she was eight months old, from the home of Mrs. Schofield, a kindly boardinghouse owner on North Avenue. Mrs. Schofield took the dog in as a young puppy after she was severely injured from a fall from a car window at the Varsity.
• The dog was named Sideways because she had an on-the-bias walk as the result of an operation.
• She was a popular figure on the campus, attending classes, marching with the drill teams and often leading the football team onto the field.
The Public Art Sculptures
The moment I first walked the Tech campus with a camera in mind, the sculptures stopped me.
The Big Red Tumpkin by Verina Baxter is impossible to miss — bold red geometric lines against green grass, with the Coca-Cola building visible in the background. For light-colored dogs especially, the color contrast is striking. You can't get a backdrop more Atlanta than this.
The Koan by John Portman towers nearly 40 feet and offers something the Tumpkin doesn't: an Atlanta skyline view. The scale of the sculpture creates a sense of drama in portraits that's hard to replicate anywhere else in the city.
Both sculptures reward the wide shot. They're best used when you want portraits that feel bold, graphic, and distinctly urban — images that say Atlanta without anyone needing to read a caption.
Natural Space on an Urban Campus
I always look for nature in city sessions — dogs just look like themselves when they have grass under their feet and something to sniff.
The Tech campus has more of it than you'd expect. There are decorative boulders along the walking paths that make natural perches for dogs confident enough to hop up. Tucked green spaces between buildings that catch beautiful filtered light. And at Tech Square, the flower beds run alongside a pedestrian path in a way that lets me position your dog in the center of what reads as a sweeping flower field rather than a small landscaped bed.
That Tech Square shot is consistently one of the strongest urban-natural combinations I find anywhere in Atlanta.
A Campus With Personal Meaning
The best sessions at Georgia Tech are the ones where the location actually means something.
Alumni who spent years on this campus. Current students marking a milestone. Families who've cheered at Grant Field and want that backdrop for their dog's portrait. When a location is part of your story, the images carry more weight — they're not just pretty pictures from a nice spot, they're proof that this place and this dog are part of the same chapter of your life.
If Tech is your school, your campus, your Atlanta — this is worth doing.
Practical Details
Location: Georgia Tech campus, Atlanta, Georgia — accessible via North Avenue, Techwood Drive, and surrounding streets
Best time: Sunrise. The campus gets busy quickly with students and faculty; an early start gives you the space and the light
Parking: Tech has visitor parking — check the campus map before your session date, as availability varies
What your dog needs: Comfortable in a busy urban environment; on leash throughout. I remove leashes in post-production
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