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Kruise Kalispell, dragging Main Street on a Friday evening to celebrate the 2020 graduating classes of both local high schools, in spite of Montana’s Stay At Home Order due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Photojournalists bearing witness to history. Pictures of the Year 2020 by Kent Meireis documented the COVID-19 pandemic, the presidential election, one wedding, Black Lives Matters and daily life. This essay of my Pictures of the Year 2020 occurring mostly in rural northwest Montana, is what community journalism is all about. It’s personal, you live among the people you photograph.
It has been an extraordinary year, one that we all want to come to an end. However, it has been a great opportunity to photograph one of the most important years in my lifetime. It pushed me out the door and into places that were uncomfortable.
The first couple of months of the year felt normal, covering Cabin Fever Days and the Bar Stool Races in Martin City in February. Then, boom, Whitefish Mountain Resort closed in March and suddenly there were masks and social distancing that caused divisions that are still playing out nine months later.
The year 2020 will likely go down as a pivotal time in the history of the world, forever changing the way we work, play, and live. I wonder how many people will have moved away from big cities and work remotely? Will weddings become even bigger events, or will more couples decide to have small elopement-style weddings?
Who knows what 2021 will bring. If there’s one thing that 2020 has taught us, it’s how life and plans can, and will, change faster than ever.
Cheers to 2021 and vaccines! Please stay safe and keep wearing your masks!
Peace, Kent
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Our friend, Sam Adams, a comedian and journalist from Denver performed during a birthday party in Kalispell.
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My Montana Wedding EXPO fashion show at the fairgrounds.
President Trump’s Impeachment trial.
Roaring Twenty’s-themed Winter Carnival in Whitefish.
Sled dogs in the Winter Carnival in Whitefish.
The 2020 Beer League Talk Outdoor Classic International hockey tournament.
The 2020 Beer League Talk Outdoor Classic International hockey tournament.
The 2020 Beer League Talk Outdoor Classic International hockey tournament.
Participants in the Cabin Fever Days Bar Stool Races in Martin City.
Participants in the Cabin Fever Days Bar Stool Races in Martin City.
Spectators at the Cabin Fever Days Bar Stool Races in Martin City.
Flathead Classic sled dog races at Dog Creek Lodge & Nordic Center.
A spectator at the Flathead Classic sled dog races at Dog Creek Lodge & Nordic Center, keeps her little dog warm.
Jolly was one of the many cats Geri and I photographed at the local humane society to help get them adopted.
A young couple plays pond hockey with their dog in Kalispell.
Carma venturing out on the frozen Stillwater River.
A local skins up to the top of Big Mountain the day after the lifts closed down for the season due to COVID-19.
A local skins up to the top of Big Mountain the day after the lifts closed down for the season due to COVID-19.
Carma relaxes in our bathroom window.
Grocery shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lucy gave birth to this bull calf on Earth Day at KZ Farms south of Kalispell.
Kruise Kalispell, dragging Main Street, in spite of Montana’s Stay At Home Order due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kruise Kalispell, dragging Main Street, in spite of Montana’s Stay At Home Order due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kruise Kalispell, dragging Main Street, in spite of Montana’s Stay At Home Order due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Tintype black and white photo of Carma.
Flathead High School graduates toss their caps during their socially-distanced ceremony in Kalispell.
More than 1,000 people turned out for the “I Can’t Breathe” demonstration at Depot Park near downtown Kalispell, Montana, to protest the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed black man whose death was caught on video in Minneapolis. Hundreds of armed ‘Peacekeepers’ carrying high-powered rifles attended the rally as well, saying they were there to keep the peace. No arrests were made during the event that lasted more than four hours.
More than 1,000 people turned out for the “I Can’t Breathe” demonstration at Depot Park near downtown Kalispell, Montana, to protest the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed black man whose death was caught on video in Minneapolis. Hundreds of armed ‘Peacekeepers’ carrying high-powered rifles attended the rally as well, saying they were there to keep the peace. No arrests were made during the event that lasted more than four hours.
More than 1,000 people turned out for the “I Can’t Breathe” demonstration at Depot Park near downtown Kalispell, Montana, to protest the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed black man whose death was caught on video in Minneapolis. Hundreds of armed ‘Peacekeepers’ carrying high-powered rifles attended the rally as well, saying they were there to keep the peace. No arrests were made during the event that lasted more than four hours.
A diesel truck rolls coal on the Black Lives Matter protestors as more than 1,000 people turned out for the “I Can’t Breathe” demonstration at Depot Park near downtown Kalispell, Montana to protest the murder of George Floyd an unarmed black man whose death was caught on video in Minneapolis. Hundreds of armed ‘Peacekeepers’ carrying high-powered rifles attended the rally as well, saying they were there to keep the peace. No arrests were made during the event that lasted more than four hours.
A diesel truck rolls coal on the Black Lives Matter protestors as more than 1,000 people turned out for the “I Can’t Breathe” demonstration at Depot Park near downtown Kalispell, Montana to protest the murder of George Floyd an unarmed black man whose death was caught on video in Minneapolis. Hundreds of armed ‘Peacekeepers’ carrying high-powered rifles attended the rally as well, saying they were there to keep the peace. No arrests were made during the event that lasted more than four hours.
More than 1,000 people turned out for the “I Can’t Breathe” demonstration at Depot Park near downtown Kalispell, Montana, to protest the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed black man whose death was caught on video in Minneapolis. Hundreds of armed ‘Peacekeepers’ carrying high-powered rifles attended the rally as well, saying they were there to keep the peace. No arrests were made during the event that lasted more than four hours.
East Glacier was closed for the season because the Blackfeet Nation decided that COVID-19 continued to pose a threat to their reservation, which borders the entire east side of Glacier National Park.
Glacier National Park Superintendent, Jeff Mow, was interviewed by a local TV reporter as Glacier National Park slowly began reopening June 8th, after being closed to the public since March 27 because of COVID-19.
Flag Day ceremony at the War Memorial in Depot Park in downtown Kalispell, included the burning of retired flags.
Burning Hearts Bleeding Hearts, we have three different varieties and not one is the common variety.
Our Bearded Iris didn’t disappoint this season.
A bicyclist on The Going To The Sun Road in Glacier National Park before the road opened to vehicle traffic.
The National Anthem gets the Brash Rodeo started in Columbia Falls.
Kids watch a friend do a back flip off a picnic table at the Brash Rodeo in Columbia Falls.
A chute steer bulldogger wears a COVID-19 mask at the Brash Rodeo in Columbia Falls.
An interracial styled wedding session with Sami and Brycen on Big Mountain.
Carma peeks out of her hiding place in our front yard.
A Big Horn Ram jumps the railing at Logan Pass on The Going To The Sun Road in Glacier National Park.
A buck along The Going To The Sun Road in Glacier National Park.
Geri takes a picture at sunset along the shore of Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park.
Geri and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary at the Yaak Mountain Lookout north of Troy, Montana.
A tourist from Florida wearing a COVID-19 mask at Kootenai Falls Park.
War Birds over Whitefish, a local radio-controlled model airplane show, hosted by the Glacier RCer’s.
Pollination bee on an Echinacea flower in our backyard.
Hummingbirds loved the Bee Balm flowers growing in our backyard.
Our 95-year-old friend Howard Jacobson, at the Montana Veterans Home in Columbia Falls, talks with us on a phone through a glass door because of COVID-19.
Montana Will Worship, a worship service lead by John Gabriel Arends of Kalispell, in the old Gateway West Mall parking lot, was pretty much a Jesus rock concert with prayer healing counseling.
Montana Will Worship, a worship service lead by John Gabriel Arends of Kalispell, in the old Gateway West Mall parking lot, was pretty much a Jesus rock concert with prayer healing counseling.
Montana Will Worship service at Foys Lake near Kalispell, Montana, included baptizing ten people.
Montana Will Worship service at Foys Lake near Kalispell, Montana, included baptizing ten people.
Getting a backcountry permit meant lining up at the Glacier National Park office in Apgar at 4am with no guarantee you would get the nights in the campgrounds you wanted.
Geri rounds a corner toward Granite Park Chalet campground while backpacking in Glacier National Park.
Geri picking peaches in our backyard.
We had a bountiful harvest of peaches and tomatoes.
A bull bison wallows in the dirt at The National Bison Range refuge on the Flathead Indian Reservation.
Dorothea and Scott kiss on their way out of their suite at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs. Their wedding was relocated and downsized to just Geri and I due to COVID-19 precautions.
4th Annual March 4 Black Women at the Colorado State Capitol, Denver, September 26, 2020.
4th Annual March 4 Black Women at the Colorado State Capitol, Denver, September 26, 2020.
4th Annual March 4 Black Women at the Colorado State Capitol, Denver, September 26, 2020.
A man wears a Ruth Bader Ginsberg t-shirt during a Get Out The Vote rally in Kalispell, Montana.
Clouds cover the valley below on The Going To The Sun Road in Glacier National Park.
Geri and Carma relaxing in our backyard.
Montana Made: Drive Out The Vote Tour stop in Kalispell at the Flathead County Fairgrounds, during a drive-in style rally for statewide Democratic candidates in the 2020 elections.
A late season poppy dusted with snow in our backyard.
Flathead County had mail-in ballots for the 2020 presidential election and in-person voting at the election office in Kalispell.
Flathead Democrats took a victory lap down Main Street in Kalispell, Montana, after Joe Biden was announced as the winner of the 2020 presidential election over President Trump.
Drive through COVID-19 testing in a parking lot near Kalispell Regional Hospital during a snow storm.
Flathead County pandemic response workers were greeted by supportive citizens holding a Hallelujah Health Department Day rally as workers went to work in Kalispell, Montana.
I personally experienced COVID-19 testing at a drive-through station. Photo by Geri Meireis
I personally experienced COVID-19 testing at a drive-through station. Photo by Geri Meireis
Oil Art in a grocery store parking lot with snow melt and a fall leaf.
Leaf Series, snow and ice melt.
Leaf Series/Dutch Masters, frozen leaves and plums in our birdbath this morning.
Leaf Series/Red Maple
We met Steve, a rather large Yellow Lab, while we were out cutting our Christmas tree.
Health Care Heroes Solidarity Drive: Friday Night Caravan, about 100 supporters of nurses protested for the need of management to prioritize bargaining and accept RN staffing proposals.
