2020 Photos of the Year

The year started like any other and suddenly everything changed. Utahns huddled in their homes to avoid the coronavirus and the city went dark, including our theaters and schools, shopping malls and churches. Then in the summer, we emerged fed up by police violence and racial discrimination. The protests led to temporary curfews and thousands blocked city streets.

The Tribune’s photojournalists — Trent Nelson, Leah Hogsten, Francisco Kjolseth and Rick Egan — captured it all. They put their health at risk to create stunning images that showed our humanity and events that thanks to them we’ll never forget.

Here are their photos of the year.

(Trent Nelson  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) Donovan Mitchell as the Utah Jazz host the Dallas Mavericks on Jan. 25.
Trent Nelson
(Trent Nelson  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) Demonstrators march around the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints protesting Brigham Young University’s changing position on “romantic behavior” by same-sex couples on March 6.
(Trent Nelson  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) A sign reads “Jesus Saves” at the Rescue Mission of Salt Lake after an earthquake knocked loose a cascade of bricks from the building’s roof on March 18.
(Trent Nelson  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) Photographed at her Springdale home on May 19, Sunny Lee works to bring the families of MIA Korean War veterans to South Korea, where they are honored for their family member’s service. Lee died in August.

We run into all kinds of people on assignment. Sunny Lee was a precious one: a saint. I was lucky to photograph her in 2015 and again this year. Hearing of her death in August was a shock. Sitting with Sunny in Springdale and hearing about her efforts to honor Korean War veterans while eating her wonderful fried rice is one of my treasured memories.

(Trent Nelson  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox greets supporters arriving at an election night event in Mount Pleasant on June 30. Cox won the race and is now the governor-elect.
(Trent Nelson  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) A window washer hangs high on the World Trade Center in Salt Lake City on July 16.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) A red sun sets over Salt Lake City on Sept. 21.
(Trent Nelson  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) Annie Esposito speaks at a news conference on Oct. 21 about how her son Jason was shot and killed by police in 2018.

The power and love of people like Annie Esposito overwhelms me. What courage it must take to recount the biggest tragedy of your life, in the hope that it doesn’t happen to someone else.

COVID-19

(Trent Nelson  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) Negative-pressure tents are set up outside University of Utah Hospital in preparation for COVID-19 patients on March 9.
(Trent Nelson  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) A whiteboard at the Murray Boys & Girls Club is photographed on May 14. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Boys & Girls Club moved activities online, using Facebook to post activity videos for younger kids and having teens meet via Zoom.
(Trent Nelson  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) An empty classroom at Northwest Middle School in Salt Lake City is photographed on Dec. 4.
(Trent Nelson  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) A pedestrian wearing a mask walks a pair of dogs in Salt Lake City on April 6.

As we were all getting used to wearing masks back in April, one person’s attempt to liven the mood while walking through a Sugar House neighborhood, above, brought me immense joy.

(Trent Nelson  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) The marquee at The Depot in Salt Lake City references both the COVID-19 pandemic and Wu-Tang Clan on May 2.
(Trent Nelson  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) Children play “Pin the Mask on Gov. Gary Herbert” during a rally protesting government mask mandates at the Utah Capitol on Sept. 5.
(Trent Nelson  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) An umbrella is marked with flags and signs during a rally protesting government mask mandates at the Utah Capitol on Sept. 5.

Black Lives Matter

(Trent Nelson  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) Protesters against police violence face a line of officers while marching through Salt Lake City after Salt Lake City’s mayor instituted a curfew on June 1.
(Trent Nelson  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) Protesters march against police violence in Salt Lake City on June 2.
(Trent Nelson  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) Protesters kneel in an intersection during a march against police violence in Salt Lake City on June 4.
(Trent Nelson  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) A woman is overcome with emotion during a protest against police violence at the Public Safety Building in Salt Lake City on June 1.
(Trent Nelson  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) Protesters fill State Street in downtown Salt Lake City as they march against police violence on June 4.

The photo above shows you how many people were marching for civil rights on that night in June. But the camera could not capture the electricity in the air. It was something you could feel coming from the crowd.

(Trent Nelson  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) Surrounded by family, Lucy Carbajal grieves for her son Bernardo Palacios-Carbajal — who was killed by police in May — during a vigil at the Utah Capitol on June 6.
(Trent Nelson  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) Protesters paint the street red outside the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office on June 27, symbolizing what they see as blood on the hands of prosecutors who do not charge police officers for shooting and killing people.
(Leah Hogsten  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) Supporters of President Donald Trump take to the Utah Capitol on Saturday, Nov. 7, after news broke that former Vice President Joe Biden had won the presidency.
Leah Hogsten
(Leah Hogsten  |  The Salt Lake Tribune)  Boulder Elementary teacher Elizabeth Julian gives an assessment to kindergarten student Wiley Williams in the school parking lot on Aug. 27, after a windstorm blew down the school’s tent erected to hold classes outside. “I’m trying to make it as safe as possible,” Julian said.
(Leah Hogsten  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) Kate Foster rallies with hundreds of LGBTQ students and supporters outside the LDS Church’s office building on March 6. Despite removing the section on “homosexual behavior” from Brigham Young University’s Honor Code, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints clarified that same-sex romantic behavior is still “not compatible” with the university’s rules, prompting protests.
(Leah Hogsten  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) Landon Daniel Buttars, 21, and Emanuel “Mani” Hill, 21, are separated at a Black Lives Matter protest in Cottonwood Heights in August. This took place five days after police arrested nine protesters at a peaceful rally held in memory of Zane James, who had been shot and killed by officers.
(Leah Hogsten  |  The Salt Lake Tribune)  A woman wearing a mask takes a break in the Salt Lake City Cemetery on April 10. In Utah, by the end of 2020,  more than 10,000 people had been hospitalized with the coronavirus and more than 1,200 had died.
(Leah Hogsten  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) The Nuhall family enjoys sunshine and fresh air as they take family portraits among the blossoming Yoshino cherry trees that line the 0.7-mile Memorial Walkway encircling Capitol Hill on April 9.
(Leah Hogsten  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) West High School students Felix Ortiz and Grant Dunkley smile as they are recognized for saving the life of Assistant Attorney General David Carlson, center, during an assembly at the school on Jan. 17. On Feb. 19, 2019, Ortiz and Dunkley helped pull Carlson out of his overturned car on the 600 North bridge in Salt Lake City, and Ortiz performed lifesaving CPR until first responders arrived.
(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Passengers in a train car at the historic Heber Valley Railroad watch American flags waving in the wind to honor military, past & present, men and women who serve or have served in our Armed Forces in celebration of Heber City 2020 Memorial Day Drive By Tribute, May 25, 2020.
(Leah Hogsten  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) A tearful Jeffery Ryans, right, is hugged by his attorney Gabriel White on Aug. 5. Ryans was attacked by a Salt Lake City police canine on the order of Officer Nickolas Pearce while Ryans was on his knees with his hands in the air. Ryans’ left leg was severely injured. The Salt Lake City Police Department has since suspended its K-9 program.
(Leah Hogsten  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) Salt Lake City Weekly founder and owner John Saltas stands in an empty newsroom on April 1.  The pandemic is wreaking havoc on many small news-gathering organizations, such as alt-weeklies and free community newspapers. “I don’t usually think in worst-case scenarios. I plan for ’em, I guess you could say, and I dread them, and I sweat at night, and I don’t sleep, and I worry about our staff, and I worry about the people in our community who we’ve helped,” Saltas said. “It’s a tremendous burden, frankly.”
(Leah Hogsten  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) At first light, Marilyn Holly, 66, shepherds her small herd of goats on the Navajo Nation land surrounding her home in Montezuma Creek on June 24. The small community of Montezuma Creek sits atop the Greater Aneth oil field. Holly worries about spills and hates “the stench” the operation generates. Gases that escape from pipes and valves — or that are intentionally released through flaring and venting — flood her home multiple times a day.
(Leah Hogsten  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) “We may be addicts or whatever, but we’re human beings. They should treat us just like how they want to be treated,” says Meagan Deadrich, wiping tears while talking about the loss of her unborn daughter in 2018 as an inmate at the Salt Lake County jail. Deadrich began bleeding vaginally and repeatedly asked jail staff to see a doctor. Finally, she was taken to a hospital, where it was discovered that her baby had died.
(Leah Hogsten  |  The Salt Lake Tribune)  Iqra Academy of Utah students Khairdon Mohamed, Aysha Rufaidha, Mohamed Hassoun and Ansharah Khan react to learning the age of the Capitol building during their first tour. They participated in the inaugural Muslim Day on the Hill on Feb. 25.
(Leah Hogsten  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) Ogden police cars drive past Officer Nate Lyday’s childhood home on Custer Avenue in a memorial procession, after Lyday was shot and killed responding to a domestic dispute.
(Leah Hogsten  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) More than 1,000 Pride for Black Lives Matter supporters rally at Liberty Park on June 14 before marching throughout Salt Lake City.
(Leah Hogsten  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) The Salt Lake City International Airport commemorates its 100-year anniversary on Dec. 21. Party attendees are seen in the reflection within the new greeting room.
(Leah Hogsten  |  The Salt Lake Tribune)   Hundreds march in downtown Salt Lake City overturning two police cars and setting them on fire on May 30 to protest the death of George Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck.
(Leah Hogsten  |  The Salt Lake Tribune)   Hundreds march in downtown Salt Lake City overturning two police cars and setting them on fire on May 30 to protest the death of George Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck.
(Leah Hogsten  |  The Salt Lake Tribune)   Hundreds march in downtown Salt Lake City overturning two police cars and setting them on fire on May 30 to protest the death of George Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck.
(Leah Hogsten  |  The Salt Lake Tribune) Rep. Sandra Hollins, D-Salt Lake City, smiles as her bill to ban police officers from using “knee-on-neck” chokeholds passes the Utah House, 69-5, on June 18. In reaction to George Floyd’s death, Hollins called the bill “a down payment” to Utah’s people of color. “We’re going to make sure you feel safe in this community,” she said.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Zach Higgins skateboards on an upturned section of sidewalk near Liberty Park in Salt Lake City on Sept. 8 after hurricane-force winds knocked over thousands of trees.
Francisco Kjolseth
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune ) Members of the Hill Air Force Base honor guard carry the casket of Dallas Lynn Stevens, who served 38 years in the Utah Air National Guard, as he is laid to rest at the Utah Veterans Cemetery & Memorial Park in Bluffdale on June 24. Stevens died from COVID-19 and was buried with military honors.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Hailee Calderon, case manager at the West Jordan Care Center, tilts her head back as a staffer with the Utah Department of Health performs a coronavirus test on May 21. The state tested staff at all long-term care facilities, with centers for memory patients and the intellectually disabled receiving higher priority.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Highland Park Elementary PTA hosts a “teacher parade” on May 1 in Salt Lake City to celebrate teachers and students during the coronavirus pandemic, which closed down schools.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) East High students Olivia Winston, left, and Nele Kaufusi pay graduating senior Lucille Myers a visit at home on May 7. Teams of parents, teachers and student body members visited each of the 400 students in the school’s 2020 graduating class, as traditional graduation celebrations were upended by the pandemic.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) The comet Neowise appears over the Great Salt Lake as seen from Antelope Island in July 2020.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Angel Moroni statue is pulled from atop the Salt Lake Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on May 18. The temple closed in December for seismic upgrades and sustained minor damage during the March 18 magnitude 5.7 earthquake, which caused the statue’s trumpet to fall and displaced several smaller spire stones.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) and forward Royce O’Neale (23) spray Donovan Mitchell (45) with water as he does an interview celebrating his 46 points and the team’s win over the Denver Nuggets on April 9.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Owen Rogers, 10, helps unload a large box of donated food during the 2020 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service at the Utah Food Bank on Jan. 20.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) An officer tries to clear an area where hundreds of demonstrators became aggressive in downtown Salt Lake City on May 30 as they protested the death of George Floyd, who died when a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Hundreds of demonstrators march in downtown Salt Lake City — with some overturning a police car and setting it on fire — on May 30 as they protest the death of George Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Hundreds of demonstrators become aggressive in downtown Salt Lake City on May 30 as they protest the death of George Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Tiffany James kisses her daughter Ruby, 7, on Aug. 11 as they visit the portrait of their son and brother Zane James, who was killed by Cottonwood Heights police in 2018. Artists painted murals of people killed by police near 800 South and 300 West in Salt Lake City.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) An officer takes a knee with a group protesting police violence in downtown Salt Lake City on June 3.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Costco staff sanitize shopping carts on May 4, the same day a policy went into place requiring everyone in the store to wear a mask.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) A pedestrian makes their way past an empty Gateway mall in downtown Salt Lake City on April 29.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Altar assistant Darren Williams blows out the candles following morning Mass at the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City on May 8, as worship services began to reopen after coronavirus restrictions eased.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Parents keep their distance as students at Canyon View Elementary in Cottonwood Heights line up for the first day of classes on Aug. 24.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) A vibrant blue canal used to extract valuable minerals from rich brines coursing through the Bonneville Salt Flats garners unwanted recreation attention in June.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Hundreds of aspiring ballet dancers – ages 9 to 19 –  participate in the Youth America Grand Prix student ballet scholarship auditions at the Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake City on Feb. 22.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Children of supporters of President Donald Trump wave a pro-gun flag as they shout at cars during a rally at Washington Square on Nov. 2.
Rick Egan
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Angry residents react when a Utah County Commission meeting on July 15 is adjourned before it even started. The group protesting against face masks being required in schools filled the meeting room, prompting Commissioner Tanner Ainge to say it was an unsafe gathering.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) After a long drive from Mexico, Natalia Solache is seen next to a replica of Mexico’s famous Bell of Dolores, given to Utah by El Consejo de Comunidades Hispanas A.C. on Aug. 29. The original bell is a popular symbol of Mexico’s independence.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Shoppers wear masks in downtown Salt Lake City on Nov. 12.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) A protester hugs a Salt Lake City police officer during a demonstration for racial equality on June 1.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Protesters dance in downtown Salt Lake City during a Dance Dance for Revolution demonstration for racial equality on Aug. 23.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Adriana Palacios joins protesters during a Justice for Bernardo rally on June 24. Salt Lake City police shot and killed Bernardo Palacios-Carbajal, Adriana’s uncle, on May 23. Prosecutors ruled that the shooting was legally justified.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Mani Hill is detained by police near the University of Utah, where Vice President Mike Pence debated Kamala Harris on Oct. 7.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Black Lives Matter protesters march in Provo followed by armed counterprotesters on July 1.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) People dance during a Juneteenth celebration at Washington Square in Salt Lake City on June 19.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Salt Lake City police warn a protester not to take a step farther as crowds are pushed back during a May 30 protest of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Counterprotesters follow Black Lives Matter protesters down Center Street in Provo on July 1.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune). Protesters gather in the rain on June 6, the seventh day of rallies following the police killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Bernardo Palacios-Carbajal in Salt Lake City.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Protesters dance in the streets in downtown Salt Lake City during a Dance Dance for Revolution demonstration for racial equality on Aug. 9.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Hailee Hernandez shouts at a Salt Lake City officer as police threaten protesters with arrest if they step off of the sidewalk. This was June 23, which was the 23rd day of protests following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. 
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Supporters of President Donald Trump gather at an anti-mask rally in Provo on Oct. 2.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Black Lives Matter protesters shout, “Hands up, don’t shoot,” during a rally for racial equality at the Utah Capitol on June 3.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Zachory Houston wears a face mask as he skis at Park City on opening day on Nov. 20.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) With school delayed because of a storm on Feb. 3, Liam Eckersley, a 7-year-old from Bountiful, helps shovel snow against the blowing wind.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Laura Ellison, 5, enjoys the unusually warm November weather as she plays at The Gateway on Nov. 5.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Trig Barlow, 8, takes cover from the blowing wind on Sept. 8, huddling under the tree in his front yard that was toppled in Bountiful.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) A dog named Diesel wears a costume as he leads Anne Crook during “Dog Days in the Maze” at Wheeler Farm on Oct. 26.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) BYU tight end Masen Wake (13) leaps over the top of UTSA Roadrunners cornerback Corey Mayfield Jr. (26) at Lavell Edwards Stadium on Oct. 10.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Real Salt Lake defender Nedum Onuoha (14) heads a corner kick at Rio Tinto Stadium on Sept. 14.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Revelers celebrate a unique winter solstice near the famed Sun Tunnels in Utah’s Great Basin Desert on Dec. 21. For the first time in 800 years, Saturn and Jupiter aligned to create a single, bright point of light known as the “Christmas Star.”