Photography Lovers End Of The Year Contest

2021 has just about had the lick but before it's completely done in I thought I'd participate in the Photography Lovers Community's End of the Year contest (see here for details).

If you're reading this that means you've survived 2021 thus far so I'll just skip talking about it and get straight to talking about some of my favorite photos of 2021.

This photo is from March 13, 2021, the one year anniversary of Breonna Taylor's murder at the hands of LMPD. It's one of my favorites in part because it's one of the best shots I have depicting Breonna's family in their struggle to get justice for her. In the center of the banner with fist raised is Breonna's mother Tamika Palmer, to her left is lawyer Ben Crump, and to his left is Breonna's boyfriend, Kenny Walker. This was also the first action I'd participated in since hundreds of cops had laid siege to some of us in a church in late September 2020. With memories of that still fresh, the whole day was a powerful, emotional occasion and that is also part of why this is one of my favorites.

This photo is one of my favorites because it involves my favorite person doing one of our favorite things. We'd been out wandering Old Louisville taking photos and I caught them trying to take a photo of me and decided to see if I could get the reflection of my camera lens in their camera lens. Besides, we were having to much fun with it for it not to be one of my favorites.

For those of you unfamiliar with the US Flag Code, the flag should never be displayed upside down “except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.” Given the current state of things these days it seems an apt time to turn it upside down. That's the Washington Monument in the background, we were in DC for the March On For Voting Rights and the 58th anniversary of MLK Jr's March On Washington. The flags were all at half staff because of the bombing in Kabul that'd killed 13 soldiers and numerous Afghans during The Great Skedaddle. In that context the symbolism of the upside-down flag seemed more than appropriate and is much of why this is one of my favorites.

Among other things, this year was the first in which I got to harass a Senate minority leader or a sitting Supreme Court justice. This photo is from the day Mitch McConnell and Amy Coney Barrett were at the Seelbach Hotel conniving. Some of us got together outside to let them know that their efforts were less than appreciated. As we were blocking the street to screen the protest from traffic I noticed the guy beside me's shirt and necklace and had to get a shot. Given the context and all that was going on I couldn't help but include it in my favorites.

I grew up helping my family raise tobacco but eventually it wasn't worth the effort and we quit growing it. Ever since I started getting serious about photography I've wanted to go back and take photos of all that went with that before it all disappears. This fall I got a chance to snap some shots in a tobacco barn and this one is my favorite from that adventure. While I damn sure don't miss being in one of these barns in the middle of winter stripping tobacco (or bakker as we called it), there's still a sense of nostalgia that comes with the sights and smells of an old tobacco barn and gets this counted among my favorites.

This photo is from September 23, 2021, the one year anniversary of the Kentucky attorney general's announcement that the only charges stemming from Breonna Taylor's death were for shots that missed. We were marching down Broadway in downtown Louisville and the setting sun was just right to snap a shot. You gotta have at least one protest dog in your favorites, right?

Anyways, that's probably enough for one year. Photos are in no particular order. There's still a couple days left in the contest so give it a shot yourself!