Diana Valdivia is a Central New York and Southern California-based photographer specializing in sports culture and action photography. Sports have been a central part of Diana’s life since before she was born. Growing up as a dual-sport athlete, attending UCLA games and watching football every Sunday with her dad, she was shaped by sports from an early age.

 Diana picked up her first camera at the age of 12, as her mother’s attempt to keep her occupied during her brother Zackary’s baseball tournament. What started as a distraction became central to how she sees the world. Driven by deep empathy and curiosity about human nature, photography became her tool to understand why people do what they do.

 Diana is drawn to sports for their culture, the deep community bonds, and traditions that the games create. Building on this connection and on her desire to understand characters beyond their media personas, Diana’s work explores the cultural identity and motivations that shape athletes, individuals, and teams.

 Currently, Diana serves as a lead team photographer for Syracuse University Athletics while completing her bachelor's degree at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School. Her experience also includes three years as director of photography for UniversityGirl and two summers photographing the Hyannis Harbor Hawks of the Cape Cod Baseball League. These roles have strengthened her ability to work quickly, think visually under pressure, and capture compelling stories across sports, portraiture, and editorial work.

Diana’s work has been featured in multiple publications, including The Newshouse, The Observer-Dispatch, Syracuse.com, and The Next. In 2025, she was recognized as a finalist in the Domestic Photo Story category by the College Photographer of the Year Awards and earned 6th place in the Hearst Journalism Awards’ Photojournalism II competition. 

(Photograph by Kailyn Peng)