A historic, unforgettable year: 2020 in pictures
KUOW Photos/Megan Farmer
It was an extraordinary year unlike any other.
T
he first Covid-19 outbreak in the United States stopped Seattle in its tracks. Toilet paper, hand sanitizer and masks vanished from store shelves.
Streets eerily empty. Spouses separated by panes of glass. Businesses boarded up — a canvas for the city’s muralists to offer some degree of hope. It was a surreal new reality with no end in sight.
And then came May.
Following the murder of George Floyd at the end of the month, thousands poured into Seattle’s streets to continue a fight that’s hundreds of years old. Demanding justice for Black Americans and an end to police brutality, protesters were met with tear gas and flash bang grenades on Capitol Hill. For months, every single day, throughout the region — people marched.
By October, a tumultuous presidential election began to reach a crescendo.
And within weeks of Joe Biden being elected came the arrival of the first Covid-19 vaccines. As frontline workers received the first shots, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. In a year marked by unrelenting tragedy, heartbreak and loss – it was also one marked by resilience. Individual people saw in the devastation an opportunity.
Hand-sewn masks were delivered to healthcare workers risking their lives. Volunteers handed off boxes of produce at drive-through food banks. Mutual aid networks replenished the swept away tents and sleeping bags of the unhoused. On a recent December morning at Cal Anderson park, one protester yelled, "We're all we got!"
The crowd answered: "We're all we need."
The following images were taken by KUOW staff photojournalist Megan Farmer throughout 2020 in the greater Seattle area.
January 2020
Houndsman Greg Jones, left, and Chris Morgan, right, hike through the snow at dusk after an attempted cougar capture mission conducted by researchers of Bramble, a roughly 3-year-old female cougar, on Tuesday, January 14, 2020, on the Olympic Peninsula.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe natural resources technician Sonny Sampson, right, places his hand on Moses, a roughly 7-year-old male cougar, on Wednesday, January 29, 2020, during a cougar capture mission conducted by researchers on the Olympic Peninsula.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
Dancers perform during a dress rehearsal for the Pacific Northwest Ballet's Cinderella on Thursday, January 30, 2020, at McCaw Hall in Seattle. Dancers filled 110 different roles in the performance choreographed by Kent Stowell.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
March 2020
Dorothy Campbell sits in her son's vehicle after knocking on her husband, Gene Campbell's window and speaking to him on the phone at the Life Care Center of Kirkland, the long-term care facility at the epicenter of the first coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., on Thursday, March 5, 2020, in Kirkland. There have been 46 deaths from Covid-19 associated with the facility.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
Members of a Servpro cleaning crew line up before entering the Life Care Center of Kirkland, the long-term care facility at the epicenter of the first coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., on Wednesday, March 11, 2020, in Kirkland. As of Wednesday, March 11, Washington state had reported 29 total Covid-19 related deaths.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
Dorothy Campbell talks to her husband, Gene Campbell, on the phone through his window at the Life Care Center of Kirkland on Thursday, March 5, 2020, in Kirkland. Dorothy's son Charlie Campbell came from Silver City, New Mexico, to bring his mother to see his father. "It’s kind of tough but it’s the best we can do at this point," he said.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
A healthcare worker talks with Susan Hailey, 76, in her room at the Life Care Center of Kirkland, on Friday, March 13, 2020, in Kirkland.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
Kaas Tailored employees sew face masks on Monday, March 23, 2020, at the Kaas Tailored furniture factory in Mukilteo.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
Khai Tran, a utility worker with Seattle Parks and Recreation, sprays water onto a swing-set before a mixture of bleach and water is applied to the West Woodland Park Playground as a result of the coronavirus outbreak on Thursday, March 19, 2020, in Seattle.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
A pedestrian crosses an empty 4th Avenue on Wednesday, March 25, 2020, in Seattle. On March 23, Gov. Jay Inslee announced he would sign a statewide order that requires everyone in the state to stay home in order to curb the spread of the virus. At the time, the Stay Home, Stay Healthy order was to last for two weeks and could be extended.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
A swing set is surrounded by caution tape at a closed play area as a result of the coronavirus outbreak two days after Gov. Jay Inslee announced the Stay Home, Stay Healthy order, on Wednesday, March 25, 2020, at Seward Park in Seattle.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
U.S. Army soldiers from the 627th Army Hospital from Fort Carson, Colorado, as well as soldiers from JBLM set up a 250-bed military field hospital for non COVID-19 patients on Tuesday, March 31, 2020, at the CenturyLink Field Event Center in Seattle. On Wednesday, April 8, 2020, Gov. Jay Inslee announced that that the state would be returning the field hospital to the U.S. Department of Defense, without it ever receiving a patient.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
April 2020
Lit up windows making the shape of a heart at the Hyatt Regency are visible from Sea Crest Park along Harbor Avenue Southwest on Wednesday, April 8, 2020, in Seattle. As of Friday, April 10, the Washington State Department of Health had reported 491 Covid-19 related deaths.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
An aerial view of Meridian playground in Wallingford is shown roped off with caution tape on Friday, April 10, 2020, in Seattle. Fifteen of Seattle's city parks were closed for the weekend in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. "This is not spring break," said Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan after announcing the park's closures. "We are still in the middle of a global pandemic." The parks reopened the following Monday.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
Members of the Compline Choir rehearse while wearing masks ahead of a live-streamed Easter service on Sunday, April 12, 2020, at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
A mural of a healthcare worker wearing personal protective equipment is shown through the window of a passing King County Metro bus on April 28, 2020, along South Main Street in Seattle. As Seattle businesses, coffee shops and restaurants shut down amid the pandemic, plywood replaced their many entrances and windows. Artists transformed that plywood into murals bearing messages of hope and resilience.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
Washington National Guard soldier Dahdia Hicks stacks jars of peanut butter on Tuesday, April 21, 2020, at a new emergency response center set up by Food Lifeline as a result of the growing need for food in Washington prompted by the coronavirus outbreak, along East Marginal Way South in Seattle. According to a Food Lifeline press release, the need has nearly doubled since the Covid-19 outbreak began while food donations have dropped by 70%.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
Richard Vialva, a medical assistant with International Community Health Services, stands for a portrait on Thursday, April 16, 2020, following a shift of Covid-19 testing at the ICHS testing site in Shoreline. "Our whole country is filled with people who are unsure of their status or can't get tested," said Vialva. "I hope we're giving people some relief."
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
Leo Padua, a 17-year-old senior at Ingraham High School, and Morgen White, right, an 18-year-old senior at Ballard High School, jump on a trampoline with balloons during their own personal prom celebration in Leo's backyard on Saturday, May 23, 2020, in Seattle. "It feels like a little bit of childhood that I missed," said White. "It’s this point where you’re supposed to become an adult but it feels like it didn’t happen."
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
May 2020
Adyana Luna, 18, a senior at Ballard High School, stands for a portrait on Sunday, May 24, 2020, in Seattle. "I spent four years of my life working towards the goal of walking across the stage to have my family in the crowd to see me graduate, and I think that’s kind of hard because I know it will not be like that," said Luna. "There are so many other things to happen in our lives -- we’re so young still, we’re only 18, and there’s just so much more to go."
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
Thousands gathered in protest following the murder of George Floyd on Saturday, May 30, 2020, in Seattle. Here, protesters run from tear gas and flash bang grenades deployed by Seattle police officers near Westlake Park. For over 150 consecutive days, protesters demanding racial justice and an end to police brutality continued to march in Seattle.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
A protester has milk and water poured into their eyes after tear gas was deployed by Seattle police officers on Saturday, May 30, 2020, near Westlake Park in Seattle. Thousands gathered in protest following the murder of George Floyd, beginning daily protests that would last for several months in Seattle.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
A protester wearing a respirator watches as a small American flag hangs from the grill of a burning Seattle Police Department cruiser as thousands gathered in protest following the murder of George Floyd on Saturday, May 30, 2020, near the intersection of 5th Avenue and Pine Street in Seattle.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
June 2020
A smiley face is shown drawn on the end of Seattle Police Officer M. Lancaster's baton while standing in a police line on Monday, June 1, 2020, at the intersection of 11th Avenue and East Pine Street in Seattle. For the next week, tense, nightly standoffs between demonstrators and a fortified line of police in riot gear took place at this intersection. On June 8, Seattle police abandoned the East Precinct.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
After more than 6 hours of a peaceful protest, law enforcement released tear gas, flash-bang grenades, pepper spray, and rubber bullets on hundreds of people near Cal Anderson Park on Tuesday, June 2, on the fifth day of protests in Seattle following the murder of George Floyd.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
Chazz Daniels holds a rose in the air as several hundred people gathered in a peaceful protest march from Westlake Park to Seattle City Hall on Monday, June 1, 2020, in Seattle. Protesters later marched to the Seattle Police Department's East Precinct building where tear gas and flash bang grenades were deployed.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
Seattle police officers hold batons while standing in a police line over chalk writing on the sidewalk that reads 'Fuck The Police,' on Tuesday, June 2, 2020, at the intersection of 11th Avenue and East Pine Street in Seattle.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
A crowd gathers around the Seattle Police Department's East Precinct Building at the intersection of 12th Avenue and East Pine Street on Saturday, June 13, 2020, inside the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, CHAZ, or Capitol Hill Organized Protest, CHOP, in Seattle.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
For more than six hours, hundreds of people demonstrating for racial justice and against police brutality stood opposite of a barricade facing Seattle police officers near the department's East Precinct building on Tuesday, June 2, 2020, at the intersection of 11th Avenue and East Pine Street in Seattle. Around 11:30 p.m., officers released tear gas, flash-bang grenades, pepper spray, and rubber bullets on hundreds of people near Cal Anderson Park.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
"Rest in power to those killed during the George Floyd Rebellion" reads the wall above a candlelight vigil honoring those killed unjustly at the hands of law enforcement on Tuesday, June 2, 2020, at the intersection of 11th Avenue and East Pine Street in Seattle.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
A tear falls from Dr. Hayden Hamilton's eye while kneeling with Dr. Jennifer Hamilton, right, during a moment of silence on Saturday, June 6, 2020, outside of Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Thousands of nurses, doctors, and health care workers came together to protest police violence with a march to Seattle City Hall. "We need to think of racism as a disease,” said Organizer Dr. Estell Williams, a general surgeon at the University of Washington.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
Seattle police officers deployed tear gas, pepper spray, and flash-bang grenades on protesters shortly after midnight on Sunday June 7, 2020, in Capitol Hill. The next day, after a week of tense, nightly standoffs between demonstrators and a fortified line of police in riot gear, the police line moved out and the precinct windows were boarded up. Over the PA system, protest organizers called for a peaceful gathering and reiterated the overall goal: to defund the Seattle Police Department.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
Organizer TK leads a group of people protesting for racial justice and against police brutality back to the Capitol Hill Organized Protest zone from the Seattle Police Department's West Precinct building on the 18th day of protests following the murder of George Floyd, on Tuesday, June 16, 2020, in Seattle.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
Joaquin Uribe stands for a portrait on Tuesday, June 30, 2020, in Seattle. Uribe, a volunteer medic during protests for racial justice in Seattle, was accused of assaulting a police officer during a protest and was arrested. He then spent most of the 46 hours he was in jail in isolation because he is transgender. Uribe refutes the officer's allegation, and says it was the arresting officer who left him with multiple injuries, including a puncture wound in his abdomen.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
A crowd gathers around a Black Power fist art instillation during an attempt to lift the structure inside the Capitol Hill Organized Protest Zone on Tuesday, June 16, 2020, in Seattle. As a result of safety concerns, the group decided to lift the heavy structure the following day instead.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
August 2020
Members of the Everyday March light candles and place them in the shape of a heart to honor John T. Williams, a First Nations wood carver who was unjustly shot and killed by Seattle Police in 2010, on Tuesday, August 4, 2020, near the home of Seattle City Councilmember Debora Juarez in Seattle. "It is on us," said TK, an organizer, to the crowd. "It is our duty, our obligation, our responsibility to come out here and stand up for the next generation."
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
Organizers of the Everyday March lead the Defund The Police march and rally with chants at the beginning of the march from the King County Juvenile Detention Center to Seattle City Hall on Wednesday August 5, 2020, in Seattle.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
September 2020
Roller skaters skate along Alki Avenue Southwest during a Seattle Skates meet up as the sun sets on Wednesday, September 30, 2020, in Seattle. “We definitely have a genuine care for each other and it’s not just random people I like skating with,” said Artemis Peacocke, co-founder of Seattle Skates. “It’s genuinely a community. I love it so much."
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
October 2020
Artist Future Crystals repaints the letter E in the Black Lives Matter street mural on Friday, October 2, 2020, on East Pine Street in Seattle. The 15 artists who created the original mural formed a plan with the City of Seattle's Office of Arts and Culture to preserve it after parts became faded or chipped. "We're just digging in to even further this message — this idea, the movement, making it really permanent," said artist Takiyah Ward.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
A large crowd of demonstrators marched from Cal Anderson Park to Westlake Park on Monday, October 26, 2020, in Seattle. Six different groups joined together to commemorate 150 days of fighting for Black liberation and justice in Seattle. "You can't go back," said River, an organizer, to the crowd. "You took a step, you took a stand, you basically took an oath: to protect and to stand with Black people, forever."
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
November 2020
Hundreds marched through Pioneer Square on Wednesday, November 4, 2020, following a rally focused on counting every vote and protecting every person. In addition to supporting ongoing vote counts, speakers called for an investment in Black communities, closing King County’s youth jail and protecting undocumented immigrants. “We are on stolen land, built with stolen labor by people who look like me,” said Trae, an organizer with the Black Action Coalition.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
Chloe Fierstein, 14, stands for a portrait while walking to the 'Our Work Continues: Protect Every Person' event, shortly after Joe Biden was officially named president-elect on Saturday, November 7, 2020, at the intersection of 10th Avenue and East Pine Street in Seattle. "Today means a lot to me," said Chloe. "We can change the harsh ways that America is right now."
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
Bubbles, roses and champagne are part of a celebration erupting on Capitol Hill after Joe Biden was officially named president-elect on Saturday, November 7, 2020, at the intersection of 10th Avenue and East Pine Street in Seattle.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
From left, registered nurse Shu Kuang, registered nurse Tina Nguyen and patient services representative Denny Ho stand for a portrait following a shift of Covid-19 testing on Friday, November 20, 2020, at the International Community Health Services drive thru testing site on 8th Avenue South in Seattle's International District.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
December 2020
From left, Jasper, 7, Paloma, 6, and Otto, 4, talk with The Seattle Santa, Dan Kemmis, on Sunday, December 6, 2020, as he sits inside of a pandemic safe snow globe at the intersection of Greenwood Avenue North and North 76th Street in Seattle.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
A protester gives Seattle police officers the middle finger after unhoused community members were swept from Cal Anderson Park on Friday, December 18, 2020, in Seattle. The sweep of the encampment came amid the worst of the ongoing pandemic, with cases of Covid-19 and hospitalizations at their highest levels since the virus first arrived locally.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
Pharmacist Mark Brockway draws out 10 individual 1/2 milliliter doses of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine at a biological safety cabinet on Wednesday, December 23, 2020, at EvergreenHealth Medical Center in Kirkland. Frontline staff were vaccinated beginning at 5 p.m. on Wednesday evening, including Gene Wabinga, an environmental services technician who cleaned the room of the hospital’s first COVID-19 patient.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
Outreach worker Rebecca Gilley, center, holds a candle during the WHEEL Women in Black vigil for the record-breaking 139 houseless people who’ve died outside, in public or by violence this year in King County on Monday, December 21, 2020, at Seattle City Hall. After each name was read aloud, the crowd responded, "we remember you."
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer
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Megan Farmer
Visual Journalist
Megan Farmer joined KUOW Public Radio as a visual journalist in 2017.
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