Alumnus Justin Cohen captures the world through sports photography

To become a self-made sports photographer and travel the world, Lynn University alumnus Justin Cohen ’06 used his talent, passion and connections to make his dreams a reality. Cohen developed a passion for photography as an eight-year-old when his parents gifted him his first camera. Cohen always carried a camera growing up to nurture his love for photography. Cohen admits he was “that annoying friend” taking photos of every moment … 30 years later, the art of photography has given him a career and many fond memories along the way.

Cohen hails from Cincinnati, Ohio. He traded the Midwest for South Florida and took advantage of Lynn’s personalized campus experience, smaller class sizes and the chance to compete on the men’s tennis team, where he finished as runner-up in the 2006 NCAA Division II National Team Championship. While studying communications at Lynn, Cohen served as the sports editor for iPulse—Lynn’s student-run publication—and worked as a student ambassador.

Cohen leveraged his education at Lynn and held various jobs after college—starting in sales and then working with the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) in Princeton, New Jersey as the director of events and championships, overseeing all college tennis tournaments and events. Afterward, Cohen moved on to pursue a career as a full-time sports photographer.

Thanks to a well-placed connection, Cohen was credentialed to cover the US Open Tennis Championships, allowing him to build his portfolio as a professional sports photographer. Around the same time, his brother connected him with the Indiana Hoosiers football and basketball programs, where he strengthened his portfolio with images from various Big Ten Conference games. Cohen leveraged this experience to promote his photography to various teams and tournaments—landing gigs with SEC, Big Ten, ACC, Big 12 and Pac 12 football and basketball programs, as well as ATP and WTA tennis tournaments.

Cohen fulfilled his childhood dream of covering the Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena where he served as the staff photographer for the 2018 Rose Bowl Game between the Georgia Bulldogs and Oklahoma Sooners, a College Football Playoff Semifinals game. The job was a dream come true.

“When I got my first camera, I told my parents I wanted to photograph the Rose Bowl Game,” said Cohen. “I was not just one of the many photographers covering the game; I was the staff photographer for the actual game!”

Cohen has covered events at many historic sporting venues, including the Rose Bowl Stadium, Madison Square Garden, Cameron Indoor Stadium, Pinehurst No. 2, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the United Center. Just this past year, his coverage included serving as a photographer for the United States Naval Academy in the 123rd Army-Navy Game in Philadelphia, the national champion Georgia Bulldogs, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, an ATP tennis tournament in Montreal, Canada, the NASCAR All-Star Race, a WNBA game in Dallas, an LPGA event in Florida, the Sun Bowl in El Paso, the Manning Passing Academy in Louisiana, and a private photo shoot with golf legend Annika Sorenstam. In addition, one of Justin’s photos was selected as the cover photo for an upcoming book about Roger Federer.