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PHOTOS: Unforgettable scenes in Seattle (and beyond) this year

Rafaelle Del Pesce, 9, looks toward the sun during the solar eclipse on Monday, August 21, 2017, at the Pacific Science Center on 2nd Ave., in Seattle.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer

As a round-up to 2017, we had our KUOW photographer Megan Farmer pick out some of the most memorable moments she captured. 

They paint a picture of a region that grew, grieved, fought and celebrated together. 

Make sure to follow @KUOW on Instagram to see more in the coming year.

[asset-pullquotes[{"quote": "An almost total eclipse of the sun", "style": "full"}]]On August 21, Seattle was treated to a solar eclipse.

The temperature dropped precipitously here in Seattle, and the light turned the colors rich and dark — like an Instagram filter in real life.

Ninety-two percent of the sun here was eclipsed by the moon and it was, to quote the dozens of people gathered on the KUOW garage roof, "SO COOL." 

See more photos from this moment

[asset-images[{"caption": "", "fid": "141540", "style": "placed_full", "uri": "public://201712/MF_YIP02_0.jpg", "attribution": "Credit KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer"}]]

[asset-pullquotes[{"quote": "Medium: Ink on skin", "style": "full"}]]Tattoo parlors tend to cluster near the Navy base in Bremerton. And indeed, a good chunk of the work done there is nautical in nature.

But it’s not all octopuses and anchors.

Tattoo artist Paul Weaver says he sees variety in his clients’ requests, as well as some patterns.

[asset-images[{"caption": "Tattoo artist Paul Weaver shows off his tattoos, reading 'Momma's Boy,' on Thursday, June 29, 2017, at Brem City Tattoo, in Bremerton, Washington.", "fid": "141551", "style": "placed_wide", "uri": "public://201712/MF_YIP13_0.jpg", "attribution": "Credit KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer"}]]“Women in the Navy tend to get larger pieces,” he said. “Women that aren’t in the Navy tend to get the more smaller, delicate pieces.”

“Guys, whether they are in the Navy, I think it’s a macho thing. They tend to go balls out.”

Which is a reference to running an engine at full speed, as in:  more tattoos, faster, and even bigger.

See more people showing off their body art

[asset-images[{"caption": "Nikk Dakota of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Tribe walks into the Indigenous Peoples' Day Celebration at Daybreak Star Cultural Center on Monday, October 9, 2017, in Seattle. ", "fid": "141543", "style": "placed_full", "uri": "public://201712/MF_YIP05_0.jpg", "attribution": "Credit KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer"}]][asset-pullquotes[{"quote": "'We're still here'", "style": "full"}]]Seattle celebrated Indigenous Peoples' Day on October 9 with a march from Westlake Park to Seattle City Hall.

"It means we're still here and I'm proud," said Frieda Eide, an Alaskan native and member of the Tlingit Tribe. "I'd like to see more involvement with other communities joining together and acknowledging whose land we're on." 

See more photos from the celebration

[asset-images[{"caption": "Women march toward Seattle City Hall during the Indigenous Peoples' Day march and celebration on Monday, October 9, 2017, in Seattle.", "fid": "141541", "style": "placed_wide", "uri": "public://201712/MF_YIP03_0.jpg", "attribution": "Credit KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer"}]]

[asset-pullquotes[{"quote": "Tragedy in Rainier", "style": "full"}]]Elijah Brown was 9 when he saw a man get shot dead.

It happened in 2004 in what he considers the safest, most dangerous place in Seattle — near the Rainier Community Center and Playfield in Genesee.

[asset-images[{"caption": "Elijah Brown, 22, poses for a portrait near the Rainier Playfield on Oregon St., on Monday, July 24, 2017, in Seattle. ", "fid": "141542", "style": "placed_wide", "uri": "public://201712/MF_YIP04_0.jpg", "attribution": "Credit KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer"}]]“I didn’t know what to think of it. You’re in the third grade – it doesn’t register,” he said. “It’s like you’re living a movie. I was more in shock at that specific time. As the years went on, and the shootings continued, it was like, that’s what’s happening.”

Read the story

[asset-images[{"caption": "People link arms as they walk toward a police blockade at the intersection of Northeast Pacific St. and Montlake Blvd. Northeast, after a vigil for Charleena Lyles on Tuesday, June 19, 2017, in Seattle.", "fid": "141544", "style": "placed_full", "uri": "public://201712/MF_YIP06_0.jpg", "attribution": "Credit KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer"}]]

[asset-pullquotes[{"quote": "'Say her name'", "style": "full"}]]On June 18, Charleena Lyles, a pregnant mother of four, was shot in her home by Seattle Police after calling about a suspected burglary.

“She said that she was gonna be famous and that she would touch this world,” said Lyles’ neighbor Alaina Williams in the aftermath. “I never thought that it would be like this. I really never thought that it would be like this.”

See more photos of the march

[asset-images[{"caption": "Jeffries Butts, center, the father of two of Lyles' children, sits with family members next to the casket of Charleena Lyles, during a burial ceremony at Hillcrest Burial Park on Monday, July 10, 2017, in Kent. ", "fid": "141549", "style": "placed_wide", "uri": "public://201712/MF_YIP11_0.jpg", "attribution": "Credit KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer "}]]

Lyles was buried July 10. Her friends and family filled the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Seattle’s Central District for her funeral, many wearing purple, her favorite color.

Some said they won’t have closure unless Seattle police are punished for shooting the pregnant black woman in her apartment. Police say they shot Lyles in self-defense because she was holding a knife.

See more photos from Lyles’ memorial

Follow KUOW’s coverage of this story

[asset-images[{"caption": "Tiffany Hicks holds her newborn son Elijah on Sunday, September 3, 2017, in their room at Mary's Place in Seattle. ", "fid": "141545", "style": "placed_full", "uri": "public://201712/MF_YIP07_0.jpg", "attribution": "Credit KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer"}]]

[asset-pullquotes[{"quote": "Born without a home in Seattle", "style": "full"}]]Tiffany Hicks, her partner and children are a family among many in Seattle who have experienced homelessness.

KUOW followed her journey from Mary’s Place, a homeless shelter, to a new home in Auburn.

See the story

[asset-images[{"caption": "Tiffany Hicks sits in the empty living room of her new apartment with her newborn son, Elijah, on Friday, September 15, 2017, in Auburn.", "fid": "141558", "style": "placed_wide", "uri": "public://201712/MF_YIP20_0.jpg", "attribution": "Credit KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer "}]]

[asset-pullquotes[{"quote": "Farmworker's death prompts protest", "style": "full"}]]They walked along a dusty, country road, fields of ripe blueberries stretching for miles. 

This was a protest march to Sarbanand Farms, in this tiny town near the Canadian border, where a Mexican farmworker took ill in August. The man, Honesto Silva Ibarra, a 28-year-old father, died days later at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

[asset-images[{"caption": "Farmworkers march in protest of working conditions at Sarbanand Farms on Wednesday, August 8, 2017, after a fellow worker, Honesto Silva Ibarra, 28, died on Sunday. Click or tap on this image for more photos.", "fid": "138342", "style": "placed_wide", "uri": "public://201708/MF_Farmworkers06.jpg", "attribution": "Credit KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer"}]]At the front of the march were some of the 70 farmworkers that were fired due to insubordination after protesting work conditions. 

[asset-images[{"caption": "Gerardo Rojas Olivarez plays with a football on Wednesday, August 8, 2017, in Sumas. After Honesto Silva Ibarra, a 28-year-old father on the H-2A visa program died while working at Sarbanad Farms, 70 workers were fired for insubordination after protests. ", "fid": "141546", "style": "placed_wide", "uri": "public://201712/MF_YIP08_1.jpg", "attribution": "Credit KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer"}]]Two miles down the road, a neighbor opened his property to the fired workers. Volunteers turned out to help. They donated food, tents, a generator and supplies. They sent pizzas.

Read the story

[asset-images[{"caption": "A detainee stands inside of the segregation area of the Northwest Detention Center on Wednesday, June 21, 2017, in Tacoma.", "fid": "141547", "style": "placed_full", "uri": "public://201712/MF_YIP09_0.jpg", "attribution": "Credit KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer "}]]

[asset-pullquotes[{"quote": "Inside Tacoma's immigration jail", "style": "full"}]]President Trump’s vow to crack down on illegal immigration has focused renewed attention on the detention centers built to hold immigrants awaiting deportation.

The Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma is the fourth largest such Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, detention facility in the country. 

[asset-images[{"caption": "A detainee walks in a gym inside the segregation area at the Northwest Detention Center on Wednesday, June 21, 2017, in Tacoma, Washington. ", "fid": "141553", "style": "placed_wide", "uri": "public://201712/MF_YIP15_0.jpg", "attribution": "Credit KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer "}]]KUOW’s Immigration Team got a rare look inside the federal facility.

See more photos from inside the jail

[asset-images[{"caption": "Blue light illuminates children's shoes during the Luminata Lantern parade on Thursday, September 21, 2017, at Green Lake in Seattle.", "fid": "141548", "style": "placed_full", "uri": "public://201712/MF_YIP10_0.jpg", "attribution": "Credit KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer "}]]

[asset-pullquotes[{"quote": "Welcome autumn", "style": "full"}]]Lanterns of all colors, shapes and sizes illuminated Green Lake on September 21 for the Luminata lantern parade. The parade, hosted by the Fremont Arts Council, signifies the autumn equinox and the beginning of fall. 

See more from the luminous event

[asset-images[{"caption": "Elevator operator Hamilton Beale stands in the doorway of an elevator in the lobby of Smith Tower on Wednesday, October 18, 2017, in Seattle. Beale has been operating elevators at Smith Tower for 19 years.", "fid": "141550", "style": "placed_full", "uri": "public://201712/MF_YIP12_0.jpg", "attribution": "Credit KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer "}]]

[asset-pullquotes[{"quote": "The last operator", "style": "full"}]]Smith Tower, Seattle's oldest skyscraper, is getting some renovations this coming spring. 

The tower’s old-fashioned manual elevators will be upgraded, and that means elevator operators will no longer take you to your floor. Instead, you'll just push a button.

One operator will still remain to take visitors to the tower's observatory.

See the photos

[asset-images[{"caption": "Aboard fishing vessel Marathon, Nathan Cultee tosses one of 16 farm-raised Atlantic salmon caught after a day of fishing on Tuesday, August 22, 2017, at Home Port Seafood in Bellingham. ", "fid": "141555", "style": "placed_full", "uri": "public://201712/MF_YIP17_0.jpg", "attribution": "Credit KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer "}]]

[asset-pullquotes[{"quote": "Fish become environmental contaminant", "style": "full"}]]On August 19, a breakdown at a fish farm released thousands of non-native Atlantic salmon into Puget Sound waters.

It sparked an ongoing debate into aquaculture in the Northwest.

See more pictures of fishermen attempting to round up rogue fish

Follow KUOW’s continuing coverage of this story

[asset-images[{"caption": "Charlotte Guard, left, and Anna MacCamy, right, laugh while wearing headpieces designed by artist Sofia Babaeva, during the Fremont Solstice Parade and Celebration on Saturday, June 17, 2017, in Seattle.", "fid": "141556", "style": "placed_full", "uri": "public://201712/MF_YIP18_0.jpg", "attribution": "Credit KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer "}]]

[asset-pullquotes[{"quote": "Bodacious bikes and body paint", "style": "full"}]]Naked cyclists and parade goers descended on Fremont for the Fremont Solstice Parade and Celebration to kick off the start of summer on Saturday, June 17. Crowds gathered to watch the parade, which included dancers, artists, musicians and puppets, and ended at Gas Works Park.

See all the pictures

[asset-images[{"caption": "Davis Shoulders, center, dances as Rise Up! Action Band member Adrienne Kerr, right, plays the saxophone on Wednesday, November 1, 2017, during a rally calling for an end to the removal of unauthorized homeless camps at City Hall in Seattle.", "fid": "141559", "style": "placed_full", "uri": "public://201712/MF_YIP21_0.jpg", "attribution": "Credit KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer "}]]

[asset-pullquotes[{"quote": "Rally to end sweeps", "style": "full"}]]Activists packed Seattle City Hall November 1 to testify in front of lawmakers and demand an end to the removal of unauthorized homeless camps.  

Many of those who spoke also support a proposed business tax that would raise funds to help combat homelessness.

See the story

[asset-images[{"caption": "Jayden Valencia, 6, has his hair cut by Chuck Hyte, right, at Uptown Barbershop on 4th St., on Thursday, June 8, 2017, in Bremerton. ", "fid": "141557", "style": "placed_full", "uri": "public://201712/MF_YIP19_0.jpg", "attribution": "Credit KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer "}]]

Year started with KUOW: 2017