This is the year everything went virtual. That doesn’t work for photojournalists. We have to be in the middle of the action to do our jobs. We cannot capture a moment via Zoom.
When the story is a once-in-a-lifetime, slow-moving pandemic, that task is even more daunting. Usually we can see danger and take steps to avoid it while keeping ourselves safe in the field. When the threat is an invisible, possibly deadly virus, we are forced to balance doing our jobs and risking our health.
But we had to be there in person. As this year unfolded, we knew we were photographing history. That is both an honor and a challenge. We had to be conscious of our own safety and the safety of the people we were covering on every assignment.
Here’s a selection of images from a year we will never forget.
Dr. Pierre Provost, an anesthesiologist at Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center, joins colleagues and hospital staff as they greet members of the Oregon Air National Guard as they fly two F-15 Eagles over the area May 22. Oregon's 173rd Fighter Wing and the 142nd Wing orchestrated the flyovers to show gratitude for health care workers, first responders and other essential staff who are working hard to save lives in the COVID-19 pandemic. The tribute, which traveled west to east over the facility, continued on to visit other hospitals in the region.
Hundreds of demonstrators commemorating Juneteenth marched from Esther Short Park to Interstate 5, where they stopped on the Interstate 5 Bridge and took a moment of silence in honor of George Floyd and other Black lives lost to police violence.
Alisha, who declined to give her last name, holds a photo of Kevin Peterson Jr., a 21-year-old Black Camas man who was shot and killed by law enforcement, as he is remembered with a candlelight vigil at the Hazel Dell branch of U.S. Bank on Oct. 30. Hundreds of supporters gathered to honor Peterson's memory at the vigil. Law enforcement tasked with investigating the fatal shooting of Kevin Peterson Jr. say Clark County deputies fired a total of 34 rounds, with four rounds striking him. Three deputies fatally shot Peterson following a planned drug sale of 50 Xanax pills between him and a confidential informant outside a Quality Inn motel in Hazel Dell on the evening of Oct. 29, according to court records.
Jade Westbrooks, 5, stomps her feet as part of a counting exercise in Molly Davenport's kindergarten class on Nov. 17 at Marshall Elementary in Vancouver. Kindergarteners had recently returned to in-person learning in Vancouver Public Schools, while most other students continued attending remotely.
Kindergarten teacher Katie Plamondon, from left, leads students Phoenix Winmil, 5, Wes Charuchinda, 5, Emery Thomas, 6, and Jay Chou, 6, into the building for their second day of classes at Sifton Elementary School on Sept. 22. The students were participating in a program that let them attend classes in person part of the time when COVID-19 rates in Clark County remained too high for widespread return to the classroom.
Mary Stender, a temporary worker for the Clark County Elections Office, prepares for the next voter while observing COVID-19 safety precautions on Nov. 3. Voters turned out in large numbers to cast their ballots in this year's historic election.
Connie Kessinger of St. Joseph Catholic Church, right, bows her head in prayer before the morning service on June 18. When churches had the opportunity to slowly reopen, the traditional Catholic Mass shifted to adapt to COVID-19.
Carlie Reiswig of Wilsonville, Ore., cleans the barn at the Clark County Event Center at the Fairgrounds on Sept. 11. Reiswig had evacuated his home earlier due to wildfires and was staying near his horses at the fairgrounds. "Stress kills, so trying to eliminate that part, but it's the unknown," he said. "We are scared." About 160 horses boarded at the fairgrounds during the wildfires and many of the owners are stayed on the grounds as well in their RVs and trailers.
Lennes Flores, left, cries while hugging his mother, Enedis Flores, after watching a documentary that tells their family's story during The Columbian's "Bridging the Border" forum at the Vancouver Community Public Library on Feb. 13.
Intensive care unit nurse Teresa Chamberlain stands outside PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver on April 21. When Teresa Chamberlain began working with COVID-19 patients, she sent her son and daughter to stay with her parents in Madras, Ore. She calls them every evening from her car after her shift. "I hope you don't die from the germ because I will miss you," Olyn said to her mother on one phone call. "Even when I'm not by you, I'm in your heart," Chamberlain told her.
Union High School seniors Ashtyn Lopez, left, and her twin sister Lauryn, are pictured at their home in Vancouver on May 16. When the coronavirus pandemic forced cancellation of prom, the sisters and their boyfriends had their own prom in their backyard with their families. Lauryn plans to attend Boise State University to study physiology and business and Ashtyn plans to attend the University of Hawaii to study Kinesiology.
Cayson Bay, son of King's Way assistant coach Kal Bay, stands with the team during the national anthem prior to the team's game against La Center at La Center High School on Feb. 6.
