Amanda Cowan of The Columbian Chuck Nadgwick of Camas passes the historic Liberty Theatre, which is currently closed during the COVID-19 quarantine, as he enjoys a warm spring evening with his dogs April 17, 2020. Nadgwick was on his way to get takeout at a restaurant downtown but found there wasn t the usual bustling Friday night foot traffic due to closures from the coronavirus. It s amazing how quiet it is, he said.
Amanda Cowan of The Columbian Evergreen Memorial Gardens staff, family members listen as Chaplain Landis Epp leads the burial prayer for Velda Bridger at the cemetery in Vancouver on April 27, 2020. Only two family members could stand by the gravesite for the burial, but Evergreen Memorial Gardens also offered a live recording for family to tune in and watch. The recording is also available to the family for three months after the burial.
2020’s top photos of the year from The Columbian by Columbian photo staff
This is the year everything went virtual. That doesn’t work for photojournalists. We have to be in the middle of the action to do our jobs. We cannot capture a moment via Zoom.
When the story is a once-in-a-lifetime, slow-moving pandemic, that task is even more daunting. Usually we can see danger and take steps to avoid it while keeping ourselves safe in the field. When the threat is an invisible, possibly deadly virus, we are forced to balance doing our jobs and risking our health.