The year in photos: September-December

By: Lookout Staff - December 30, 2020 5:00 am

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Dec. 26 -A Metro Nashville firefighter working at the site of a Christmas Day suicide bombing. (Photo: Alex Kent)

Politics and pandemic consumed our photojournalists for the latter portion of the year.

When President Donald Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court, Memphis photojournalist Karen Pulfer Focht went to Barrett’s alma mater, Rhodes College, to get images from Justice Barrett’s college years. Focht also got what may will be one of our last original images of 2020: a Memphis firefighter getting his first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.

John Partipilo was the only member of the media to hang out with Sen. Heidi Campbell on Election Night at her home, and photographed her jubilance at the moment the state senate race in District 20 was called in her favor. At Vanderbilt University Medical Center, he shot a group of COVID-19 nurses looking angelic in full protective gear. The intrepid, old-school Partipilo also captured several iconic shots of the damage on Nashville’s Second Avenue following a Christmas Day suicide bombing, including the one featured here, which was also picked up by NBC and ABC news.

Meanwhile, Alex Kent and Ray Di Pietro had each other’s backs at several pro-Trump “Stop the Steal” rallies following the Nov. 3 election. Di Pietro was called a “communist journalist” at the first and hostility from the crowd increased over the next few weeks of the demonstrations.

: Marquita Bradshaw in Memphis on September 9, 2020. She was the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in what she called a “Marquita versus Goliath” race against the Trump-endorsed Republican candidate, Bill Hagerty, who won. The Memphis activist was the only Black woman running for Senate in the entire country this cycle. (Photo: © Karen Pulfer Focht)

: Elena Jimenez performs before an afternoon crowd at the outdoor stage at Plaza Mariachi to celebrate El Dia de Independence or Mexican Independence Day. (Photo: John Partipilo)

: A photo of Rhodes College graduate Amy Coney Barrett, (right) who replaced the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court, hangs in the school’s Hall of Fame on September 22,2020. Rhodes College is in Memphis, Tennessee. As a member of the Rhodes College Class of 1994, Coney Barrett graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor of Arts in English. While at Rhodes, she was elected to the Honor Council and to the Student Hall of Fame. She has gone on to a career of professional distinction and achievement. (Photo: © Karen Pulfer Focht)

: Elizabeth Jones with her nephew, Isaiah. Jones is raising Isaiah after his mother was killed by her domestic partner in a murder-suicide in Paris, Tenn. (Photo: John Partipilo)

: Voters stand in line on the first day of General Election 2021 early voting in Nashville at Casa Azafran. (Photo: John Partipilo)

: NASHVILLE, Tenn., Oct. 17 – Leaders of the Power Together Women’s March cross the John Seighenthaler Pedestrian Bridge. (Photo: Alex Kent)

: NASHVILLE, Tenn., Oct. 18- A young girl holds a Confederate battle flag during a Pro Trump parade down Lower Broadway where a long line of around 100 vehicles gathered for the Trucks for Trump rally, with Trump, American, Gadsden and Confederate flags attached, honking their horns in support. (Photo: Ray Di Pietro)

: A drone view of volunteers painting a Black Lives Matter street mural on Woodland Street in Nashville.(Photo: Alex Kent)

: Nashville, Tenn., Oct. 22 – A group of anti-Trump protesters sets up shop on a prominent corner near Belmont University prior to the final presidential debate. (Photo: Ray Di Pietro)

: NASHVILLE, Tenn. Nov. 3 -Sen. Heidi Campbell, D- Nashville. celebrates her win in Senate District 20 with family and friends, including campaign manager Frank Hundley, at right. Campbell defeated Republican incumbent Dr. Steve Dickerson and represented the only pick up for Tennessee Democrats. (Photo: John Partipilo)

: NASHVILLE, Tenn., Nov. 7, 2020 -A supporter of Donald Trump yells at a Black Lives Matter supporter during a “Stop the Steal” rally, the same day President-elect Joe Biden clinched his win. (Photo: Ray Di Pietro)

: Nashville, Tenn., Nov. 14 -A supporter of President Donald Trump holds a Trump flag in one hand and rosary beads in the other while standing at the Tennessee State Capitol for a “Stop the Steal” rally. (Photo: Ray Di Pietro)

: Cardboard cutouts of fans and celebrities, including singer Tim McGraw, are placed in seats at mostly empty Nissan Stadium. Titans officials have limited spectators at home games to a small number of ticket owners. (Photo: John Partipilo)

: A renter waits Davidson County General Sessions Court in November, waiting to see if she can work out a deal with her landlord to stay in her apartment. Hernandez is one of thousands of Tennesseans facing eviction when a federal moratorium ends Jan, 31, 2021. (Photo: John Partipilo)

: A member of a group called “Let Nashville Parents Choose” speaks vehemently at a Dec. 9 rally outside the offices of Metro Nashville Public Schools. Members of the group urged MNPS to fully reopen in January. (Photo: John Partipilo)

: COVID-19 Nurses at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in protective gear. (Photo: John Partipilo)

: NASHVILLE, Tenn., Dec. 28 – A wide angle shot captures the scope of the damage done by a Christmas Day suicide bomber on Second Avenue. (Photo: John Partipilo)

: MEMPHIS, Tenn., Dec. 29 – First responders Memphis and Shelby County police officers, firefighters and EMTs get COVID-19 vaccines Tuesday Dec. 29, 2020. The Shelby County Health Department is administering the shots in a process that will go on for several weeks. (© Karen Pulfer Focht)

Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our web site.