Photographer Josh Galemore's Fave Five of 2020

Josh Galemore's Fave Five

George Floyd Protest

This photo has stuck in my own head for most the year. I remember when I was trying to make a photo I wanted to capture a moment that might put a finger on the emotions being felt throughout the country and within our own community following the killing of George Floyd and other minorities. I took several frames of this protester and when he pointed at the line of police I knew I might have something.

U.S. - Mexico Border Wall

I've been covering the construction border wall since my first week at the Daily Star. Most visits the wall can feel very repetitive and I often describe covering it as photographing a controversial construction site. I took this while riding with a reporter back to the port of entry in Lukeville after photographing some updated photos of the expansion eastward. Some sheep were grazing in a small pasture and this one happened to be pretty close to some newly installed wall. Although it may not really be a newsy photo the contrast has always seemed interesting to me.

Pandemic Daily Life

The pandemic isn't an easy thing to photograph and in the early days in March and April it felt almost impossible but was what we were being asked to do as newspaper photographers. I was actually wandering Reid Park photographing some of the closures of recreational facilities when I saw these two. It was a nice quiet and happier moment as we all were heading into very unpredictable times. 

Asylum Seeker Health

During the first few months of the year our border reporter, Curt Prendergast, and I made several visits to Nogales to cover immigration issues following the Trump administration's expanded the Migrant Protection Protocols which forced tens of thousands of asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their court hearings. On one of those visits we tagged along with volunteer medic Francisco Olachea Martin who helps with basic medical treatment from the back of his converted ambulance. These visits always stuck with me watch the resilience of asylum seekers who hope to one day make it to the United States.

Bighorn Fire

I spent the better part of two weeks covering the Bighorn Fire, much of it from pretty far away. This day though roads were still fairly open and a Forestry Service worker was kind of enough to let me hangout just beyond a trailhead closure after letting me know a hotshot crew was cutting line nearby. I hung out near the Finger Rock Trailhead for several hours waiting for the crew to get there. It wasn't long before the Smokey Bear Hotshots based out of Ruidoso, NM came and went cutting fire line behind the houses in the area.

George Floyd Protest

U.S. - Mexico Border Wall

Pandemic Daily Life

Asylum Seeker Health

Bighorn Fire