WABE 2023: A year in photos
By Matthew Pearson
WABE News Photographer
As journalists, our job is to witness and document the stories of the communities around us. As a photojournalist, my job is to show you those events. This year, our newsroom brought you stories of communities all around Atlanta celebrating, publicly grieving, advocating, protesting, and calling for justice.
As WABE’s only photojournalist, there are only so many stories I can physically and realistically help tell. Still, we did our best to show our audience the stories that matter most. Even though there are some issues I regret not being able to cover this year, it amazes me how many photos I made all over the state of Georgia. From the mountains of north Georgia and the forests of south Atlanta to the courtroom, under the Gold Dome, the production floor of a bus factory in central Georgia, and in the very homes of your neighbors, I have been honored to be able to show you what our audiences used only to be able to hear about.
Below are just a fraction of the thousands of photos I made this year documenting our communities—your communities. This is what life was like in Atlanta this year.
Georgia State Rep. Ruwa Romman is sworn in as the first muslim woman to serve in the Georgia House of Representative and the first Palestinian elected to any public office in the state on January 9, 2023. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Mourners gather in Intrenchment Creek Park during a vigil for Manuel Teran, known as Tortuguita on January 21, 2023. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Fulton County Judge Robert McBurney on January 24, 2023, hears arguments on releasing a special grand jury report on efforts by former President Trump and allies to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Gov. Brian Kemp flanked by Lt. Gov. Burt Jones (left) and House Speaker Jon Burns (right) at the 2023 State of the State address. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
ELC Assistant Principal Anderson Spince helps a student as he completes an assignment. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Senate Majority Caucus holds a press conference on the South Steps of the Capitol outlining priorities for the 2023 Session on January 26, 2023. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
A boy rides a toy motorcycle as he departs a rally held in downtown Atlanta, calling for justice for Tyre Nichols on the evening that Memphis Police released the body camera footage of Nichols’ death on Friday January 27, 2023. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Sen. Jon Ossoff speaks in front of Doraville City Hall on Friday, Feb. 3, 2023 about the planned upgrades to improve safety along Buford Highway for drivers and pedestrians. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Joel Paez, the father of fatally shot protester Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, also known as Tortuguita, speaks at a press conference held in Decatur, Ga, on Feb. 6, 2023, asking for more information on his child’s death to be released by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Blue Bird workers build electric buses at the company’s plant in Fort Valley, Ga. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Members of the Georgia House of Representatives dance in the south ante room outside of the house chambers before the start of the day’s business on February 14, 2023. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
South DeKalb resident Joscelyn O’Neil stands near the growing garbage patch she reported to code enforcement in January. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Georgia State Rep. Esther Panitch speaks at a press conference in support of HB 30 in Atlanta on February 22, 2023. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Georgia State Representative works in her office after an interview on February 22, 2023. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Former Georgia Governor Nathan Deal at the Georgia State Capitol after a press conference on rural healthcare in Atlanta on February 22, 2023. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
On the third anniversary of Ahmaud Arbery’s murder, runners, local leaders and family members gathered on Atlanta’s West End to run 2.23 miles in his memory. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Devon Woodson is the fourth-generation owner and operator of Pal’s Lounge, a legendary music bar located in the heart of Sweet Auburn. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Georgia State Rep. Betsy Holland stands at the back of the Senate chambers and reacts as SB 114, a bill related to the Buckhead City movement is rejected by the Georgia Senate on March 2, 2023. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene visits the Georgia Senate chambers on Wednesday, February 22, 2023. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Georgia State Rep. Scott Hilton steps into the light in the Georgia State Capitol on March 23, 2023. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Atlanta Police Officer Jones speaks with protesters in front of the Atlanta Police Foundation’s offices in downtown Atlanta during a rally and march in protest the construction oof Atlanta’s Public Safety Training that opponents have nicknamed, ‘Cop City’ on March 9, 2023. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Belkis Terán, the mother of fatally shot protester Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, also known as Tortuguita, speaks at the start of a march near Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Georgia state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur, questions a proposed amendment to Senate Bill 140 during a meeting of the House Committee on Public Health, Tuesday, March 14, 2023 in Atlanta. The Committee passed an amended version of the bill that would ban most types of gender-affirming care for minors. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
A veteran of over 50 years to Sweet Auburn Avenue, Janis Perkins owns the historic Odd Fellows Building, which has been located within the Sweet Auburn district since 1912. Perkins, alongside her late husband Robert, renovated the building, which currently houses multiple offices and businesses, to its current state in 1987. Artwork hangs throughout the lobby commemorating the history of the facility. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Robert Peterson holds back tears while speaking at a press conference in Atlanta on March 16, 2023, the second anniversary of the death of his mother, Yong Ae Yue. Yue was one of eight people shot and killed at various spas in the Atlanta area on March 16, 2021. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens gathers with community leaders for a press conference on the steps of Atlanta City Hall to discuss the need for the proposed Atlanta Public Safety Training Center on April 19, 2023. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
The family of Lashawn Thompson hosts a press conference and rally at Fulton County Jail. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
A line gathers outside of Tulieve’s Marietta location which was one of the first medical cannabis dispensaries to open in the state of Georgia on Friday, April 28, 2023. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Supporters for gun regulations and Georgia Democrats stand on the South Steps of the Capitol calling for a special session to address gun violence on Wednesday, May 10, 2023 in Atlanta. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Atlanta police officers respond after a mass shooting left 1 dead and 4 others injured in Midtown Atlanta on Wednesday, May 3, 2023. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
In the days leading up to AAPI Heritage Month, Shin’s dining room table begins to fill with curriculum packets and worksheets that will be used to teach students about Asian American history in the United States. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Atlanta City Councilmember Liliana Bakhtiari stands just outside the chamber and pauses after speaking with community members in line to give public comment during Monday’s City Council Meeting. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Ash Grimes works underneath a hood with a series of samples at the Hope Clinic Emory Vaccine Center’s labortory as part of the research to develop a potential first-ever HIV vaccine. (Matthew Pearson/WABE
Laura Price, a licensed practical nurse, at home in Kennesaw, Ga. She’s lived with symptoms of long COVID after two bouts of COVID-19 earlier in the pandemic. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Atlanta Dream guard Rhyne Howard (10) looks for an opening while Minnesota Lynx Kayla McBride (21) plays defense during a WNBA basketball game on Tuesday, July 18, 2023, in College Park, Ga. (AP Photo/WABE, Matthew Pearson)
A MARTA train seen through the haze rides along the Blue line near the Lake Claire Community Land Trust on July 17, 2023. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Protesters affiliated with the national Christian anti-abortion group Operation Save America demonstrate outside a Forest Park clinic. Operation Save America is pushing for a total abortion ban in Georgia and nationwide. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Dekalb County Commissioner Ted Terry kneels with Brad Beadle at the site where enviromental actvist Manual Teran was shot and killed by Georgia State Troopers in Intrenchment Creek Park. A small memorial hides in the brush where Teran’s ashes were spread by family. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Kenyatta Richardson surveys the parking lot of the shopping center searching for a potential Atlanta resident to sign a referendum petition. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
County Clerk Che Alexander departs from the courtroom of Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney carrying a packet of indictments on Monday, Aug. 14, 2023, in Atlanta.
Opponents to the construction of Atlanta’s Public Safety Training Center link arms in front of a Fulton County Sheriff motorcycle unit attempting to disperse protestors outside Fulton County Courthouse on August 18, 2023. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Actor Elaine Hendrix, a member of Atlanta’s local of the Screen Actors Guild, stands on the dais holding a cardboard sign that reads, “Union” as nearly a thousand of union members and supporters cheer in support of SAG-AFTRA on Tuesday, August 22, 2023. The union, which represents actors, announcers, puppeteers, voiceover artists and other media professionals joined a picket line over 40 days ago that has already held for 113 days by the Writer’s Guild of America. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Supporters and detractors of former President Donald Trump gathered outside the Fulton County Jail on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023, in advance of Trump’s surrender on charges relating to the 2020 presidential election. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
UAW Local 868 member John Allen and others picket outside Stellantis Chrysler parts distribution center in Morrow, Ga on Wednesday, September 27, 2023. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Georgia Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist Thomas Floyd said the hellbender’s head looks like a rock and their tail looks like wet leaves. He measures one in a homemade device, a halved-tube with a ruler he installed. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Georgia resident and former U.S Marine Vietnam veteran Robert “Moon” Mullins (54′-84′) sits behinds a wall showcasing his honors and awards during his time in service. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Pupusas at La Bodega are made to order. The the ingredients are fresh and are sourced locally when possible. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Arborist Jhonny Lopez jumps from limb to limb in a tree in Legacy Park that hosts the timed challenge. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Jamie Marsicano, one of the 61 Co-defendants facing RICO charges for participating in the movement to stop Atlanta’s construction of a public safety training center, vogues through a crowd of supporters at a rally before entering the Fulton County courthouse to be arraigned on Monday morning in Atlanta, Ga. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Police launched teargas at protesters at the site of a proposed public safety training center in Atlanta on Monday, Nov. 13, 2023. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Starbucks workers and union supporters march the picket line in the parking lot of the Jonesboro location during the “Red Cup Rebellion” strike action on Thursday, November 16, 2023. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
A hearse carrying the remains of Rosalynn Carter at Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church in Atlanta on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
