After a very strange and tumultuous year of pandemic losses and racial injustice, 2021 didn’t get off to a great start. The year kicked off in the most bizarre and terrifying way possible—with Trump supporters storming the US Capitol in protest of a fair presidential election. And the year ends with another wave of Covid that may or may not set us back to where we were in March 2020. Along the way, Washington has the majority of the year trying understand the insurrection while trying to survive the Delta and Omicron variants of Covid at the same time. But, vaccines did allow Washingtonians to have an inkling of a somewhat normal life. Some of us were able to reunite with family members for the holidays, and attend events with more than five people. Here’s Washingtonian photographer Evy Mages’s visual diary of a strange year in Washington.
January 13, 2021: Flowers placed in the Capitol fence days after the insurrection.January 20, 2021: President Joe Biden’s inauguration at the US Capitol.February 9, 2021: A pro-Trump protestor outside of the Capitol Fence.February 21, 2021: A crowd of people waiting outside for an open house during DC’s pandemic real estate boom.February 22, 2021: People standing outside of the National Cathedral during its bell ringing to honor the 500,000 American lives taken by Covid-19.March 16, 2021: Anthony Fauci at Washington National Cathedral’s vaccination event for DC-area religious leaders.March 17, 2021: The Newseum’s First Amendment tablet being deconstructed after the museum’s closing in 2019.April 15, 2021: Reagan National Airport debuts a brand-new concourse after closing Gate 35X.June 12, 2021: A crowd at the Capital Pride rally.July 15, 2021: Activists lay body bags outside the White House as President Joe Biden and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel meet in protest of her opposition to Covid-19 vaccine patent waivers.September 15, 2021: Nicholas Party’s painting “Draw the Curtain,” which will cover the exterior of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden until the museum finishes renovations.September 21, 2021: The Honor Flight Network brought more than 100 veterans to the National Mall for a ceremony for the first time since the pandemic started.September 22, 2021: Climate activists from Extinction Rebellion DC dumped a house in the Tidal Basin to demonstrate what DC might face if sea levels rose due to unchecked climate change.October 23, 2021: Shafiq reunites with his mother at Dulles Airport, who is traveling from Austria for the first time since the pandemic started. She is also meeting her grandchild for the first time.October 26, 2021: 17th Street High Heel Race in Dupont Circle.November 14, 2021: The making of the ice skating rink at the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden.
Before becoming Research Editor, Damare Baker was an Editorial Fellow and Assistant Editor for Washingtonian. She has previously written for Voice of America and The Hill. She is a graduate of Georgetown University, where she studied international relations, Korean, and journalism.
