2021: The year in photos

December 28, 2021 5:00 am

Gov. Bill Lee at a plant dedication Humboldt, Tennessee in March, pictured with plant workers. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Gov. Bill Lee at the dedication of a Tyson chicken plant in Humboldt, Tennessee in March, pictured with plant workers. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Great writing and excellent photojournalism go together like peas and carrots, and the Tennessee Lookout has the good fortune to work with excellent writers and photographers.

2021 was a lesser sibling to 2020, our launch year. If the latter gave us the opportunity to cover Black Lives Matter protests, COVID test sites and bombings, the former allowed us to cover not just one legislative session but also three special sessions, the deployment of COVID vaccines across the state and a late year catastrophic tornado.

Our in-house photojournalist extraordinaire John Partipilo gave us the faces of the year, from pensive state legislators grappling with legal issues to joyous Black legislators celebrating the removal of a bust of Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest from the Tennessee Capital. His work was as diverse as his sensitively photographed families with special needs children, some trying to access assistance with medical care and others educational opportunities and a truly amazing gallery of Freedom Riders.

In Memphis, Karen Pulfer-Focht caught a relaxed Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer shortly after Sawyer, a frequent target of racist harassment, announced she won’t seek reelection. Pulfer-Focht also documented Memphis first responders getting their COVID vaccines and smoke billowing from a Valero plant as we covered Valero’s bid to run a pipeline through a historic Black community.

While there are many more excellent images of the year, we’ve chosen a small selection of our favorites that we feel represent the year that was in politics, civil rights and COVID-19.

Rep. Glen Casada, R-Franklin, looks pensive at his desk in the Tennessee House of Representatives in Jan. 2021. (Photo: John Partipilo) — Rep. Glen Casada, R-Franklin, looks pensive at his desk in the Tennessee House of Representatives in Jan. 2021.

John Partipilo took a series of photos of former Speaker of the House Glen Casada shortly after the legislature convened in January, which was also just days after the FBI raided Casada’s home and office as part of an investigation into a shadowy consulting firm called Phoenix Solutions. Casada announced in November he will not run for reelection in 2022 after two decades in office.

Politics

John Partipilo photographed Gov. Bill Lee in front of a mural featuring Tennessee's past leaders in the Tennessee Capitol in September.

Sen. Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis, holds hands with other members of the Democratic Senate Caucus after Gov. Bill Lee's third State of the State Address. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Sen. Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis, with other members of the Democratic Legislative Caucus, including Sen. Jeff Yarbro of Nashville, to her right, after Gov. Bill Lee's third State of the State Address. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Department of Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn, pictured at right with Health Commissioner Dr. Lisa Piercey, defends herself against questions about possible "Schwinnanigans."(Photo: John Partipilo)

Department of Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn, pictured at right with Health Commissioner Dr. Lisa Piercey, photographed at an Oct. press conference with Gov. Lee.

A tearful Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, under indictment for federal campaign finance violations, tells his colleagues he will step down from his position as chair of the Senate Education Committee. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Rep. David Byrd, R-Waynesboro, exits the Tennessee House Chambers on a mortised scooter after being sworn in. (Photo: John Partipilo)

On July 30, Rep. David Byrd, R-Waynesboro, exits the Tennessee House Chambers on a motorized scooter after being sworn in. Byrd's swearing in was delayed after he became ill with COVID-19 in Dec. 2020 and remained sick for months. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Tami Sawyer, Memphis, Tennessee. Tami Sawyer is a Shelby County Commissioner and Chair of Education in Memphis, TN. (Photo: Karen Pulfer Focht) — Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer (Photo: Karen Pulfer Focht)

Civil Rights

Kwame Leo Lillard in front of the Freedom Riders mural on Jefferson Street in Nashville. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Kwame Leo Lillard in front of the Freedom Riders mural on Jefferson Street in Nashville. Lillard died I late Dec. 2020, shortly before the photo was published. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Ernest "Rip" Patton photographed in the Nashville Public Library, January 2021. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Ernest "Rip" Patton photographed in the Nashville Public Library, January 2021. Patton, a member of the original group of Freedom Riders, died in August. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Sen. Brenda Gilmore, D-Nashville, is frustrated by the lack of action in moving a bust of Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest from the Tennessee Capitol. (Photo: John Partipilo)

On July 9, Sen. Brenda Gilmore, D-Nashville, looked frustrated by the lack of action in moving a bust of Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest from the Tennessee Capitol. (Photo: John Partipilo)

The nearly 3,000-pound bust of Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest loaded onto a flat-bed truck for transport to the Tennessee State Museum. (Photo: John Partipilo)

The nearly 3,000-pound bust of Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest loaded onto a flat-bed truck for transport to the Tennessee State Museum after the July 22 removal from the Capitol(Photo: John Partipilo)

Artist Michael McBride with his mural at the corner of Commerce Street and 5th Avenue in downtown Nashville. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Artist Michael McBride with his mural of the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis at the corner of Commerce Street and Rep. John Lewis Ave., N., in downtown Nashville. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Caden Gentry, age 6, looks up at "March to Freedom" in Franklin. (John Partipilo) — Caden Gentry, age 6, looks up at “March to Freedom” in Franklin. (John Partipilo)

Hundreds gathered in Franklin, the site of a brutal Civil War battle, for the Oct. 23 unveiling of “March to Freedom.” The statue, which sits in front of the antebellum courthouse directly across from a Confederate monument, pays homage to the U.S. Colored Troops, many of whom were from Middle Tennessee.

COVID-19

Tory Watson of Memphis Police Department gets his vaccine. 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)

Memphis photojournalist Karen Pulfer Focht photographed Tory Watson of the Memphis Police Department getting his first accine. (© Karen Pulfer Focht)

State Representative Barbara Cooper of Memphis was vaccinated against COVID-19 on February 2nd, 2021. The 91 year-old lawmaker received her second dose of the Moderna vaccine. Rep. Cooper said she is “excited” about the vaccination and added, “I am encouraging everyone, especially those in high-risk categories like myself, to roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated when they are eligible and help fight this virus that has ravaged our community in Memphis and Shelby County.” Cooper has served Tennessee House District 86 in the State Legislature since 1996. © Karen Pulfer Focht

State Representative Barbara Cooper, D-Memphis, at a Feb. 2021 vaccination event. (Photo: Karen Pulfer Focht)

Omar Sharif and wife Dina Elrifai proudly hold up their first vaccination cards. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Omar Sharif and wife Dina Elrifai proudly hold up their first vaccination cards after a vaccine event at Salahadeen Center and Mosque in Nashville. (Photo: John Partipilo)

A woman winces as she gets her COVID-19 vaccine during a pop-up clinic at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in South Nashville. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Esmeralda Baravar, 18, winces as she gets her COVID-19 vaccine during a pop-up clinic at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in South Nashville. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Dr. Michelle Fiscus (Photo: John Partipilo)

Dr. Michelle Fiscus, the Tennessee Department of Health's immunization director, photographed by John Partipilo at her home after she was fired for providing vaccine information that had been approved by Gov. Lees office.

Driver Ashley Graham celebrates getting vaccinated by shooting Silly String at Courtney Easter, in passenger seat, and Tatiana Walton, in the back seat. (Photo: John Partipilo)

John Partipilo shot one of the most joyous photos of the year during a mass vaccination clinic at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium on March 20. Sponsored by the Nashville Public Health Department shortly after the COVID vaccine became available to all adults, 10,000 Tennesseans turned out out for the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

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J. Holly McCall

Holly McCall has been a fixture in Tennessee media and politics for decades. She covered city hall for papers in Columbus, Ohio and Joplin, Missouri before returning to Tennessee with the Nashville Business Journal. Holly brings a deep wealth of knowledge about Tennessee’s political processes and players and likes nothing better than getting into the weeds of how political deals are made.

John Partipilo

Working as a photojournalist for 40 years, Partipilo has won awards such as NPPA Best of Photojournalism and nominated for two Pulitzers. His photography has also been featured in national and international publications. Most importantly Partipilo’s work is about people — people in their different environments and people in their different stages of life. That’s the heart of his work. To him people are so important, because they all have a unique story.

Karen Pulfer Focht

Karen Pulfer Focht is a freelance photojournalist in Memphis, Tennessee who has won numerous awards in her career, many for in-depth projects about children and families. Her work is regularly published in newspapers and magazines around the world.