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Best of 2020

2020 was a rollercoaster. It tested us. Photojournalists improvised like never before. While I’m glad it’s almost over, I know I’ve grown as a visual storyteller by working through it.

It’s hard to call anything the “best” this year. The whole year has been a struggle and grind. But through it all, I managed to make a handful of images I’m proud of.

I thought about keeping this post short. Only the absolute best of the best. But so much happened of such significance, I decided it was appropriate to include more.

Also, as I’ve moved into my new role as an editor, this will likely be my last full year of making images.

So in chronological order, here’s a glimpse of what 2020 looked like through my lens.

Unfortunately the year started with tragedy.

Nhung Nguyen (left) looks over at her husband, Hai Nguyen, as he buries his face in his hands Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020, at their home in Memphis. Their daughter, Sabrina Nguyen, was stabbed to death on Jan. 2. She was 18.

I had to include my first professional wrestling match. That was an experience.

Scenes from the tag-team match between Kenny Omega, and Adam Page vs. Private Party on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020, during All Elite Wrestling Dynamite at Landers Center in Southaven.
Aubrey Murphy leans down to kiss her late daughter, Ashlynn Luckett, on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020, during a funeral service for Lequan Boyd and Ashlynn Luckett at LaGoshen Missionary Baptist Church in Moscow.

Celine Dion was the last concert I photographed before the world shut down.

Celine Dion performs Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020, during her Courage World Tour at FedExForum in Memphis.
Jean-Paul Gandy demonstrates how to peel and eat crawfish Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020, at Crossroads Seafood in Hernando.

I really lucked out for my first NBA season. Ja Morant was an absolute delight to photograph in action.

  • Grizzlies’ Ja Morant (12) looks over at the bench Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020, during a game against the Lakers at FedExForum in downtown Memphis.
  • Grizzlies’ Ja Morant (12) is called with an offensive foul as he tries to dunk over Lakers’ Anthony Davis (3) on Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020, during a game at FedExForum in downtown Memphis.
  • Grizzlies’ Kyle Anderson (1) on gives Ja Morant (12) the googles after scoring on Morant’s assist Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020, during a game against the Lakers at FedExForum in downtown Memphis.

In early March, I was sent to Nashville to help with their coverage needs after the city was hit by a tornado. Two of the Tennessean’s photographers had their homes destroyed in the storm.

Church musician Brian Doss plays the keyboard Sunday, March 8, 2020, before an outdoor service at Mount Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Nashville. The church was severely damaged in the March 3 tornado.
Ka’Mya James, 5, holds hands with her great grandmother, Faye Bridgeforth, and great aunt, Shantee Brownlow, on Sunday, March 8, 2020, during an outdoor service at Mount Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Nashville. The church was severely damaged in the March 3 tornado.

Some of the first confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Tennessee were announced while I was in Nashville, and the first cases in Shelby County were announced as I returned to Memphis.

As things began to shut down, it became a challenge to find things going on. The great feature and enterprise hunt of 2020 began.

Vincent Doggett (from left), 17, T-Andre Hardin, 17, and Jaelin Gray, 24, watch as A.J. Mayes, 17, fires off a jump shot Tuesday, March 17, 2020, while playing basketball at Tom Lee Park in downtown Memphis. Doggett, Hardin and Mayes are on spring break from Mitchell High School and met Gray who was playing basketball during his lunch break at work.
Diondra Lewis (right), of Cordova, and Annika Adams, of Memphis, practice social distancing as they work out on the battle ropes Wednesday, March 18, 2020, at Shabazz Fitness in Cordova. Class instructor Odie Tolbert of Cardi-O FiTness made sure all of his clients kept a minimum of six feet of separation during their workout.

One story I came across was at a local stable. They were trying to safely stay open, but preparing to continue caring for their animals in the event of a shutdown.

  • A horse stands next to a barn Thursday, March 19, 2020, at Shelby Farms Stables in Memphis. Eric Beene, owner of the stable, said he and his employees are taking extra precautions to stay safe during the COVID-19 outbreak to ensure the can continue to care for their horses.
  • Ailbhe Hughes (from right), Hannah Schwerdtfeger and Daniela Gaebler lead horses to feeding stations Thursday, March 19, 2020, at Shelby Farms Stables in Memphis. Eric Beene, owner of the stable, said he and his employees are taking extra precautions to stay safe during the COVID-19 outbreak to ensure the can continue to care for their horses.
  • Rowdy Childress uses a rasp on a horses hoof Thursday, March 19, 2020, at Shelby Farms Stables in Memphis.
  • Eric Beene talks with Samantha Beene (from left), Ailbhe Hughes, Daniela Gaebler and Hannah Schwerdtfeger on Thursday, March 19, 2020, at Shelby Farms Stables in Memphis.
  • Ailbhe Hughes (left) holds the gate as Samantha Beene leads a horse to a feeding area Thursday, March 19, 2020, at Shelby Farms Stables in Memphis.
  • Allen Vermillion, of Millington, uses a rasp on a horses hoof Thursday, March 19, 2020, at Shelby Farms Stables in Memphis.
  • Rowdy Childress puts a horseshoe on a horse’s hoof Thursday, March 19, 2020, at Shelby Farms Stables in Memphis.
  • Allen Vermillion, of Millington, documents the work he does on each horse Thursday, March 19, 2020, at Shelby Farms Stables in Memphis.
  • Horseback riders follow Samantha Beene on a trail ride Thursday, March 19, 2020, at Shelby Farms Stables in Memphis.

As houses of worship began going entirely virtual, I found a man who welcomed me into his home as he worshiped at his dining room table.

  • Brian Harris prays Sunday, March 22, 2020, while live streaming the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church service at his home in Collierville. Harris, who has been a congregant of the church for more than 35 years, said the COVID-19 outbreak is the only time he can remember not being able to worship in his church. “I know we’re a community of faith. We’re a community of believers,” Harris said. “Here in the south, we’re huggers. We love on people. Although we physically can’t hug and we’re encouraged not to do that, still love and check on people.”
  • Brian Harris prays Sunday, March 22, 2020, while live streaming the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church service at his home in Collierville.
  • Brian Harris takes notes as the Rev. J. Lawrence Turner preaches on his laptop screen Sunday, March 22, 2020, while live streaming the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church service at his home in Collierville.
  • Brian Harris sanitizes his hands before taking communion at his kitchen table Sunday, March 22, 2020, while live streaming the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church service at his home in Collierville.
  • Brian Harris drinks grape juice while taking communion Sunday, March 22, 2020, while live streaming the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church service at his home in Collierville.
  • The parking lot at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church sits empty Sunday, March 22, 2020, at the Southwind campus in Memphis. The church is now exclusively holding their service on live stream platforms to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

I never got great access to COVID-19 testing. This photo of the first drive-through testing site in Memphis was taken with a 400mm plus a 1.4x teleconverter, then heavily cropped.

A car goes through the COVID-19 drive-through testing facility Monday, March 23, 2020, at the Memphis fairgrounds.

I started looking for ways to show the empty streets. I pulled the tilt-shift lenses out of our gear closet to enhance the surreal look.

South Second Street sits empty between Peabody Place and Beale Street on Wednesday, March 25, 2020, in downtownMemphis.

Bookending the month, I was sent to Jonesboro, Ark., after an EF-3 tornado went through the town the previous evening. I was there at first light.

  • Janie Wewers looks around her home Sunday, March 29, 2020, after it was hit by a tornado the previous night in Jonesboro, Ark. Wewers sheltered in her bathtub during the storm.
  • Cars sit stacked in a pile of rubble Sunday, March 29, 2020, on Elizabeth Lane in Jonesboro, Ark.
  • Tears roll down the cheek of Ann York as she looks at her damaged home while on the phone with her insurance agent Sunday, March 29, 2020, in Jonesboro, Ark.
  • A restaurant on East Nettleton Avenue sits demolished Sunday, March 29, 2020, after a tornado ripped through Jonesboro, Ark., the previous night.
  • Derek Steward makes a call to reserve a storage unit while standing in his heavily damaged home Sunday, March 29, 2020, on Troy Cove in Jonesboro, Ark. His neighborhood was hit by a tornado the previous night.
  • Search and rescue teams check homes on Elizabeth Lane on Sunday, March 29, 2020, in Jonesboro, Ark.
  • Brian Milligan looks at what remains of his kitchen Sunday, March 29, 2020, on Nathan Drive in Jonesboro, Ark. His home and his mother-in-law’s home were both destroyed in Saturday night’s tornado.
  • David Pratt looks out the front door of Major Bill’s Military Surplus on Sunday, March 29, 2020, in Jonesboro, Ark. The door was mostly blocked by debris. Businesses on either side of his were heavily damaged or destroyed.
  • Janie Wewers (left) and her daughter-in-law, Shannon Wewers, retrieve items from Janie’s home Sunday, March 29, 2020, after it was hit by a tornado the previous night in Jonesboro, Ark.
Jamie Harmon (from left) photographs Ernie Hutton, 5, and her parents, Kelly and Grant, through a window Monday, March 30, 2020, in Memphis. Harmon has been making “quarantine portraits” as a way to document how people are living during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Rev. David Clark prays Wednesday, April 8, 2020, at Boston Baptist Church in Memphis. Religious leaders prayed in unison from their houses of worship, and invited all people of faith to join them in prayer from wherever they were. Clark is a member of Boston Baptist Church, and serves as the pastor at True Light Baptist Church in Blytheville, Ark. The Rev. Ydell Ishmon, pastor of Boston Baptist Church, said religious leaders in the tri-state area will continue praying in unison on Wednesdays at noon until the threat of COVID-19 subsides and a more traditional normalcy resumes.
Whitehaven High School senior Kathleen Sims, 18, has continued to train and condition for softball while at home. Photographed Tuesday, April 28, 2020, at Whitehaven High School in Memphis.

While photographing in a grocery store, I got to talking with the butcher who also serves as the pastor of a local church. He has a largely older congregation and turned to holding his services on a telephone conference call from his back porch.

The Rev. Vernon Vaughn leads his congregation from N-Sight Christian Center in worship over the phone Sunday, May 24, 2020, from the back patio at his home in Cordova. Vaughn said while legally they’re allowed to start returning to their house of worship, he doesn’t feel it to be safe to do so at this point as his church is small and many in his congregation are at a higher risk. The conference call service has been more approachable for many of his congregants who may not be comfortable with video conference technology.
A red-bellied woodpecker perches on a tree Tuesday, May 26, 2020, at Herb Parsons Lake in Collierville.

Then came my first trip to Louisville. I detailed this experience in a previous post.

  • The night after David McAtee was killed by Kentucky National Guard troops and Louisville Metro Police Department officers, protesters rallied at the intersection of West Broadway and South 26th Streets Monday, June 1, 2020, in Louisville. The the group was joined by another group of protesters who marched more than two miles from Jefferson Square Park to join the group on West Broadway.
  • Members of law enforcement watch the crowd in Jefferson Square from a rooftop Saturday, May 30, 2020, in downtown Louisville.
  • Michael Snyder, owner of Locked In escape rooms, guards his South Fourth Street business with an AR-15 on Saturday, May 30, 2020, in downtown Louisville. Snyder said the windows were smashed Friday night, and they threw a rock at the glass door Saturday. Snyder said he supported protesting, but not like this. “This is how I feed my family,” Snyder said.
  • A large group of protestors march north on Roy Wilkins Avenue on Sunday, May 31, 2020, in downtown Louisville.
  • Plain-clothed police officers smash milk jugs and toss packs of water stashed by protestors into the bed of their truck Saturday, May 30, 2020, on Jefferson Square in downtown Louisville.
  • Rhonda Mathies, 69, of Louisville, gets down on her knees as she sings “We Shall Overcome” along with the crowd Sunday, May 31, 2020, during a Black Lives Matter healing rally in front of KFC Yum! Center in downtown Louisville. Mathies draws comparisons to the current movement to the Civil Rights Movement, but feels that the victories now are being marginalized. Mathies said she was down on her knees in memory of her ancestors who fought through blood, sweat and tears and went through a beating fighting for their rights.
  • Kentucky State Police troopers push a woman down the street with their shields Saturday, May 30, 2020, in downtown Louisville.
  • A protestor rinses her eyes after getting hit with a pepper ball just above her right eye Sunday, May 31, 2020, in downtown Louisville.
  • Recent high school graduates carry an inverted flag Wednesday, June 3, 2020, while marching down East Chestnut Street in Louisville.
  • Protestors jump over a fence while running from law enforcement officers Sunday, May 31, 2020, near the intersection of East Broadway and South Brook Street in downtown Louisville.
  • Police and Kentucky National Guard troops chase protestors as they flee toward a fence Sunday, May 31, 2020, in a parking lot at the corner of East Broadway and South Brook Street in downtown Louisville.
  • After a truck became immobilized after doing a celebratory burnout in the intersection, protesters rush to the intersection to help the motorist out of the street Monday, June 1, 2020, at the intersection of South 26th Street and West Broadway in Louisville.
  • Louisville Metro Police Department Sgt. Michael Jackson (left) shakes hands with Chris Buntin on Monday, June 1, 2020, at the intersection of South 26th Street and West Broadway in Louisville. Jackson and a handful of other officers marched with protesters from Jefferson Square to the intersection on West Broadway. Buntin said the action showed protesters a lot of respect and that Jackson cared about the situation.
Kenya Morris attended Evangelical Christian School between 1998 and 2011. Morris said she experienced microaggressions throughout her time at the school, but saw more overt racism around Barak Obama’s presidential election in 2008. Photographed with her kindergarten portrait Sunday, June 28, 2020, at her home in Cordova.
A protester is carried out by Memphis Police officers after refusing to leave Civic Center Plaza on Wednesday, July 1, 2020, in downtown Memphis. City officials announced plans Tuesday to remove protesters who have camped out for the past two weeks.
Downtown Memphis is seen over a field of sunflowers Monday, July 20, 2020, near the Big River Crossing in West Memphis, Ark.
A Shelby County Schools middle school teacher who declined to provide her name walks through the crowd with the effigy of the grim reaper Tuesday, July 21, 2020, during a protest outside of the Shelby County Schools district offices in Memphis.

One of the greatest honors of the year was to be part of the team covering the memorials for U.S. Rep. John Lewis in Alabama for USA Today.

A National Parks employee sweeps away water from the rainfall before the memorial service celebrating the life of civil rights icon and U.S. Rep. John Lewis at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church Saturday, July 25, 2020 in Selma, Ala.
Tony Hill, of Jacksonville, Fla., reads the newspaper while waiting to pay his respects to civil rights icon and U.S. Rep. John Lewis at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church Saturday, July 25, 2020 in Selma, Ala. Hill, who was traveling with his wife Pat to Selma, said he had known the congressman.

Many people asked how I planned out the image of the carriage crossing the bridge. The truth is that I didn’t.

The planning was in the fact that I was part of a team. Both George Walker of the Tennessean and Jake Crandall of the Montgomery Advertiser were also positioned on or around the bridge.

I was stationed at the chapel and ran down the street to see what I could see after the carriage passed by. When I found this quiet scene, I knew that’s where I wanted to be to make my image.

The horse-drawn carriage carries the casket of civil rights icon and U.S. Rep. John Lewis across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Sunday, July 26, 2020 in Selma, Ala.
Lawrence Kern checks in with election judges seated behind plexiglass shields Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020, before voting at Faith Presbyterian Church in Germantown.

One feature story I stumbled across while at the park was that of Greg Young and his giant rocket-propelled paper airplanes. That was such a fun, lighthearted story to work on. It was a welcome break from all of the craziness. It’s definitely worth seeing these things in action.

Greg Young launches an eight foot paper airplane from the top of a 12 foot ladder Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020, at Levitt Shell in Memphis’ Overton Park.

Schools looked a bit different this year.

Addsion Bailey (from left) Abigail Hosea, Connor Gleason, Ella Garner and Fatmeh Jaber listen as art teacher Amanda Schulter talks through the syllabus Monday, Aug. 17, 2020, at Houston High School in Germantown. The school started back up with a hybrid plan, keeping the number of students on campus limited on any given day.
Millington’s Milton Yarbrough (13) flips Munford’s Jermyah Davis (32) as he tackles him Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020, during a game at Munford High School.
Andrea Jones (from right) watches as her children, Kaylee Jones, 9, Eric Harris, 12, and Khila Harris, 15, get oriented with virtual learning on the first day of school Monday, Aug. 31, 2020, at their home in Memphis.
Ethan Furr, 15, built a ropes course on the grounds of The Bodine School in Germantown for his Eagle Scout project. Photographed Monday, Aug. 31, 2020, at the school in Germantown.

Marking the six-month mark of the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Memphis, we tackled a big project looking at how different sectors of life have adapted to survive. My last stop of the day was the drive-in theater.

Jacob Roberts, 19, of Memphis, waits in the concessions building for customers Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020, at Malco Summer Drive-In in Memphis. Roberts worked at the Malco Forest Hill location and was transferred to the drive-in during the pandemic.
Collierville Chief of Police Dale Lane walks an unidentified man away from Town Square Park in handcuffs Monday, Sept. 7, 2020, in Collierville. The man hit a cell phone out of the hand of Frances Marable, of Germantown, who was recording him.

In September, I was brought back to Louisville to assist in coverage around the grand jury verdict in the Breonna Taylor case.

  • Police lead detained protesters to the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020, in downtown Louisville.
  • A Kentucky State Police trooper stands near the intersection of South Sixth and West Liberty streets with crowd dispersal devices strapped to his vest Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020, in downtown Louisville.
  • A man is arrested near the intersection of South First Street and East Broadway on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020, in downtown Louisville.
  • Issa Fixit leads chants through a megaphone Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020, in downtown Louisville.
  • Police lead detained protesters to the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020, in downtown Louisville.
  • Megan Goins hugs an unidentified man as she is released from Louisville Metro Department of Corrections on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020, in downtown Louisville. The man was volunteering with a group of people who were keeping track of protesters who were still in jail, and offering legal assistance, food and car rides to those who were released.
  • Protesters march on North Fourth Street towards River Road on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020, in downtown Louisville.
  • Brothers Darryl Ayo III (from left), 7, DeMario Ayo, 3, and DeAngelo Ayo, 5, march with signs Sunday, Sept. 27, 2020, in front of Metro Hall in downtown Louisville. Their parents, Darryl II and Stephanie Ayo, have been bringing them to the protests to support Breonna Taylor’s family as well as their own. “We teach our kids to be bold, be courageous and stand up for others no matter the fears,” Stephanie said.
  • A flare burns on the carpet inside the Louisville Free Public Library on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020, on South Third Street in downtown Louisville.
  • Protesters look out from a courtyard window at First Unitarian Church on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020, in downtown Louisville. Protesters were invited on the church property as a sanctuary site to avoid curfew violations.
  • Jeremiah Zonio (left) and Diallo Thornton play music in the sanctuary at First Unitarian Church on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020, in downtown Louisville. Protesters were invited on the church property as a sanctuary site to avoid curfew violations.
  • Protesters march on East Main Street near Shelby Street on Friday, Sept. 25, 2020, in downtown Louisville.
  • Ruth Gary, of Eureka, Mo., and her children, Richelle, 7, and Jeff, 11, look for shelter near a building as police fire flash bangs Friday, Sept. 25, 2020, on East Main Street near Hancock Street in downtown Louisville. The family was marching with a large group that left from Jefferson Square Park. The group was stopped by police before they could walk under Interstate 65 as they headed back toward the park on Main Street.
  • Armed protesters stand on the property at First Unitarian Church on Friday, Sept. 25, 2020, as police cars line the northwest corner of the property in downtown Louisville.
  • A Louisville Metro Police Department officer watches the crowd in front of First Unitarian Church through his binoculars Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020, at South Fourth Street and Broadway in downtown Louisville.
  • A protester carrying an inverted flag walks through Jefferson Square Park on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020, in downtown Louisville.
U.S. Attorney General William Barr removes his mask before speaking Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020, at the Memphis Police Department’s Ridgeway Station.
U.S. Senate candidate Marquita Bradshaw leaves her election headquarters on Lamar Avenue to vote Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020, in Memphis.
Members of the absentee counting board check in on the floor of FedExForum early on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Memphis, Tenn.
Poll watcher Cedar Nordbye shows off some of his sketches from poll locations around Memphis on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. Nordbye is floating between 12 different locations throughout the city.

Another career-first for me was spending time on a Native American reservation. This story is definitely worth a read.

Like his Choctaw ancestors before him, Cubert Bell couldn’t be convinced to cut ties with his ancestral home. The year was 1994. The house where Bell lives with his wife, children and grandchildren didn’t yet exist. Neither did his street, filled with multigenerational Choctaw families, nor the community center around the bend. It all sits now on 88 acres of the only autonomous land in Tennessee, where Bell’s family and other Choctaw sharecroppers formed a community that’s since become sovereign, operating their own public safety, health and other services while keeping their cultural traditions alive. Bell’s wife, Lacie, looks through a photo album with their granddaughter, Emani, 4, on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020, at the Choctaw reservation in Henning.

And my very last assignment for the Commercial Appeal took me across state lines into Mississippi to hear a pastor’s plea to stay home for the holidays.

On at least one occasion this year, Pastor Bartholomew Orr has preached four funeral services over the course of a three-day weekend. Several times, he has led multiple funeral services on a Saturday. Time and time again, he crafts an individualized message about the deceased to their grieving family and friends, but keeps his message about the church’s COVID-19 protocols the same. His church, Brown Missionary Baptist Church in Southaven, has averaged more than a funeral a week this year. After delivering the church’s 77th funeral service Friday — a 50% increase from last year’s total of 51 — Orr issued a plea that families stay home for the holidays. Photographed Friday, Nov. 20, 2020, at Brown Missionary Baptist Church in Southaven.

I look forward to what 2020 will bring, and hopefully working with my team at IndyStar in person.

Photo 5:41 pm , December 22, 2020 0
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