Photos and Stories From the Last Two Inaugurations

Same, same, but different.

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I just arrived in Washington, DC, making it my third time in the city for the inauguration. In 2017 and 2021, I was on assignment for TIME and had official press access to the whole shebang. This time, my assignment is taking me on a different route, and on top of the official events, I intend to walk around the city looking for scenes.

Previously, I’ve written about how I photographed the last inauguration with a tiny camera that fit in my pocket, Looking Back on the Inauguration: When a Small Camera Made a Big Difference.

Cameras, 2017 vs 2021

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2017 vs 2021. Comparing and contrasting the visuals of the two events was interesting.

2017. A sweet moment of Obama kissing Michelle’s hand.

2017. And after, having a cordial exchange with Trump, an irrelevant moment then (I never even submitted this image), but it feels a bit surreal now.

2021. Four years later, I returned to a city under siege. The accreditation process was long and thorough, and checkpoints were installed all along the perimeter of the Capitol building and White House.

2021. Washington, D.C. was a bizarre, dystopian sight. Because of the January 6th insurrection, everything around the White House and the Capitol was blocked off in every direction and required several levels of clearance.

2017. The parade was open to the public and I got to shoot it from a press truck.

2021. Press truck. This time I wasn’t on it.

2017. Scenes I got from the press truck. In retrospect, I’m glad we didn’t get rotten eggs thrown at us.

2017. There were a lot of kids.

2017. And protestors.

2021. The parade was all but closed to the public.

2021. Which was probably a good thing. Seeing the President’s face obstructed by a black mask during his first official, public appearance looks strange now.

2017. President Obama flies off in Marine One.

2021. Trump skipped the inauguration for Biden, instead taking off in the helicopter straight to Florida.

2021. Joe and Jill Biden ascended the stairs alone.

2017. Another outtake I missed the first time around. This year, Michelle Obama is skipping the inauguration.

2021. The streets around the White House were empty and eerie.

2021. Enlivened only by the presence of heavily armed troops.

2017. Troopers guarding the parade route look quaint and nostalgic in comparison.

2017. Where is Natan? My close friend and colleague, Natan Dvir, who was on assignment as well, is hiding somewhere in this photo of a crowd cheering Trump.

I see a lot of people proclaiming Monday to be the “END", whatever that means. As unhappy as I was with the results of the election, I don’t feel that way. Elections will come and go even as half the country will always proclaim doomsday, and then we’ll do it again in four years. The January 6th insurrection came too close to comfort to disrupt this process, but we collectively got through it. The only way I see the “END” coming is if the divisions are sowed even further by pointing fingers and placing blame, unable to treat each other with respect, no matter the political ideology.

As I walked this morning to get coffee around the White House, I saw numerous fences and checkpoints installed. It’s sad that we got to a point where a country praising itself as a democratic haven looks like an open-air prison on the very day celebrating this process. And then I heard the news that due to frigid temperatures on Monday, the inauguration will be moved inside and the parade will be cancelled, making all the fences with barbed wire look even more ridiculous.

Well, here we go again.

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All the IDs I had to carry on me at all times in 2017 and 2021. I felt stylish.

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The thing I’ll miss the most this inauguration is Bernie in his mittens. Those memes were the cream of the crop.

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