Best of 2020

Let’s just say it: 2020 sucked. For everyone. At moments the year flew by, at many others the year seemed endless. But 2021 is upon us, and although for many, myself included, it meant more time at home than out in public, I still captured perspectives of this year the World will never forget.

It’s unsurprising that many of my photographs in this year’s Best of 2020 are barren of people, and those that do have people are individuals or small family groups. I quickly enacted a number of COVID-19 best-practices that meet or exceed those required by Virginia law, and have strived to maintain the safety of not only myself and my vulnerable family members, but those of my clients. Because of the unprecedented reduction in assignments this year, particularly of commercial clients due to the cancellation of events, a greater portion of this year’s Best Of consists of personal work, but you’ll see that although it’s personal work, much of it is relatable and has affected everyone in some way or another.

Here’s to 2021 redeeming all the hardship, loss, and overwhelming disappointment 2020 inflicted on the World. May these pictures put 2020 to rest, and may your 2021 be filled with joy and prosperity.

A “barn find” Porsche on display at the 2020 Washington Auto Show.

A Foggy February morning in Northern Virginia.

Toilet paper became scarce in early March as shifts in the supply chain shifted from commercial to retail bathroom supplies, while more population working from home, and public fear incited hoarding, drove demand, emptying store shelves of basic cleaning supplies for months.

Hand sanitizer, gloves, surgical masks, and N95 respirators became nearly impossible to come in Spring. By Summer, the market was flooded with price gouged, counterfeit, or unregulated KN95 masks, antibacterial sanitizing wipes, and hand sanitizer.

At Ronald Reagan National Airport, nearly all concessions closed indefinitely due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

At Ronald Reagan National Airport, airlines cancelled all flights indefinitely for the safety of passengers, and due to low demand while citizens quarantined in place.

Inside Ronald Reagan National Airport’s nearly empty National Hall, a COVID-19 branded hand sanitizer station is affixed to a shuttered Information Desk.

As air travel all but halted, entire terminals of airports were shuttered. With fewer travelers, ad spaces receive fewer impressions, leading to marketing campaigns to be rolled back or cancelled entirely. Above a closed terminal at Ronald Reagan National Airport, a digital ad site displays a creative encouraging proper hand-washing technique in place of normally cycling ad campaigns.

"Black Lives Matter" blazed several neighborhood trailheads, but were defaced with the arguably racist "All Lives Matter," then subsequently corrected back to BLM during the height of nationwide protests following the death of George Floyd under the knee of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

In Northern Virginia, many parks and playgrounds were closed by guerrilla citizens even before executive orders explicitly closed such facilities. Meanwhile, other inhabitants ripped away barriers or ignored HOA shutdown orders, creating a kind of suburban anarchy.

Jack Zarinsky, CFP, walks into his office in Fairfax City, Virginia.

Jack Zarinsky, CFP, speaks into a microphone while recording for his podcast.

A Polaroid of pickerel hyacinth growing at Ellanor C. Lawrence Pond.

Erik and Jennifer walk in a lavender field on their wedding day, June 27th, 2020. Many engaged couples had to delay or downsize their 2020 wedding due to COVID-19 safety and legality of gatherings.

Polaroid of Alyssa McGuire carrying an elephant ear plant at Merrifield Garden Center, Centreville, Virginia. Alyssa’s favorite animal is the elephant, and as a self-proclaimed “crazy plant lady,” she chose a Colocasia to add to her Rhode Island garden. Alyssa drove from Providence to Memphis, stopping in Washington, DC for a week, to care for her aging grandparents who struggled to get supplies and home maintenance during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

At Washington Dulles International Airport, a health supply kiosk is shuttered inside a deserted terminal.

Rubin and Madonna stand on the ramp at Washington Dulles International Airport with the historic ATCT and taxiing aircraft behind them after Rubin proposed to Madonna minutes prior at the gate they first met.

Elizabeth laughs at James’ jokes during their July engagement session. James and Elizabeth planned for a Spring engagement session coinciding with the April Cherry Blossom Festival, but this became unsafe and illegal as DC enacted executive orders that made visiting the Tidal Basin legally impossible, while the National Park Service feuded with DC Mayor Muriel Bowser by continuing to sell photography permits. Meanwhile in Virginia, early executive orders explicitly closed or kept open specific businesses, but failed to provide operating guidance for unlisted non-essential businesses, forcing many people, like Elizabeth and James, to postpone scheduled sessions.

Lily pads float at Ellanor C. Lawrence Pond, seen through an antique Lubitel 2 medium format lens converted to work on Canon EOS mount cameras, shot on an EOS R mirrorless camera.

The Cumberbatch family poses among the Autumn leaves during their family portrait session in Sterling, Virginia.

J. David Buerk, owner and photographer of J. David Buerk - Photography poses in a werewolf mask and gloves, holding an authentic rusty scythe on Halloween in Fairfax, Virginia. Despite ample candy and decorations, not a single trick-or-treater showed due to COVID-19 scaring off young goblins and ghouls.

Kevin drops to one knee and asks Rhoda to marry him at a snow-covered Stone Tower Winery.

With vines in the background, Rhoda places her hand on Kevin’s chest to display her engagement ring minutes after saying “yes” atop a snow covered hill at Stone Tower Winery.

The sun shines on the steering wheel of an Infiniti G37 S 6MT coupe’s steering wheel.

A handmade, artisan designed and crafted embossed leather journal cover with pewter clasp, featuring a flourishing acanthus leaf pattern. I first spotted this journal five years ago at the Renwick Gallery, and have regretted not getting it at the time, and had been unable to find the creator until recently. To my surprise, it is still available, and the maker even has an Amazon storefront now, with limited supply available. My most loved Christmas gift this year, this beautiful, naturey journal in my favorite color holds the notebook I’ve been using for years, and will hold future notebooks as this one nears filling, fitting perfectly into my daily leather Tumi backpack.

Rubin and Madonna: The Proposal

If you’ve ever met Rubin, you know he always has something funny to share. One of my earliest memories with Rubin is from while I was covering Ethiopian’s 787 Dreamliner being introduced into service at Washington Dulles International Airport; Rubin said, “I honestly don't know what David looks like. I think his face might look like a camera.” Some say he may not be wrong.

When Rubin told me he was planning to propose to Madonna at the Dulles airport gate where they first met, I of course was excited to help capture the moment. Rubin spent several weeks planning the proposal, coordinating with the airport and IT to make his idea of the gate display boards play clips of all the travels and memories they’ve compiled over the years of their relationship, culminating with a special flight information display for the next chapter of their relationship to take off.

To-date I’ve photographed three prior proposals, two of which were also airport proposals, but like everything in 2020, this proposal presented new challenges to solve - namely, for me, how do I blend in with a crowd that isn’t there? 2020’s coronavirus pandemic has heavily impacted the aviation industry, and during a planning walkthrough a week prior to the proposal, it became apparent my usual tactic of hiding in plain sight may prove more difficult given that gate A25 was completely abandoned. Fortunately, given the video Rubin assembled to play on the FIDS, I wouldn’t need to hide much for very long, as the jig would pretty much be up as soon as Madonna saw the video - a marked difference from other proposals I’ve captured, and I’m happy to say it worked out exactly as Rubin planned.

Funnily enough, the day-of, gate A25 wasn’t abandoned! It was populated with passengers social-distancing in groups before their flight departing from an adjacent gate, so my gambit to “look like a passenger” paid off, and happened to come in handy much earlier than I’d planned - as it would happen, Rubin and Madonna were on the same AeroTrain as me when heading over to the gate to set up, while Rubin took Madonna to his office to pretend file some paperwork in order to throw Madonna off his plans and give everyone at A25 time to get in position. When I got off the AeroTrain, I spotted the couple getting off two cars ahead of me and hopping on the escalator - I decided to stick to my plan, and follow suit with everyone else moving through the station, and I walked my rolling camera luggage and backpack onto the escalator adjacent and a few steps behind them - don’t mind me; I’m just a passenger! Later on, Rubin told me he’d spotted me, but played it cool-as-a-cucumber the same as me. I was even able to grab a few photos of them before I paid them no mind speed-walking past with my rolling bag on the way to my “flight.”

Once the time came, Rubin walked Madonna to gate A25, the gate they first met each other as airport employees, and Rubin’s video played on the FIDS with music filling the gate area. And Rubin’s plan worked, because Madonna was taken with emotion immediately. The pictures tell the rest of the story - when the “Will you marry me?” flight card showed at the end of the video, Rubin dropped to one knee to pop the question, and the rest is history!

Just being around Rubin and Madonna you can feel their energy, and seeing how happy they make each other it’s impossible not to feel happy yourself. After passengers and fellow employees and friends alike had congratulated the newly engaged couple, we took some photos to formally commemorate the occasion. As Rubin and Madonna are both longtime airport employees, and to further celebrate the place where they met, we captured portraits on the ramp with Dulles’ historic ATCT in the background as onlookers watched from passing mobile lounges and taxiing aircraft, before heading back to the Main Terminal to meet with friends and family who had gathered to congratulate the pair.

It’s 2020; you have to social-distance and wear your mask:

Also because it’s 2020, it must be said: masks were only off for photos, socially distanced from non-family members.

With the help of a mutual friend of Rubin and I, video of Rubin and Madonna’s engagement was captured from several angles, which I’ve combined to show exactly how it went down.

Dulles’ tagline is “Your Journey Begins with Us,” and for Rubin and Madonna it truly did at Gate A25.

David and Tiffany: Married July 6th, 2019

Although their wedding was two days after Independence Day, David and Tiffany kept the fireworks going for their Summer wedding day in Arlington; a fitting contrast to their Autumn engagement session in Shenandoah.

As with many traditional Chinese weddings, David and Tiffany celebrated among family and friends with a dinner party, which gave us extra time for portraits that steamy July afternoon. After exploring sites inside and around their hotel in Arlington, it was time to head to a nearby Chinese banquet hall to greet family and dear friends before the small ceremony began. Following toasts from close friends, the ten-course dinner feast was served, offering a spectrum of traditional and American Chinese flavors. And of course there was cake and champagne to conclude the meal as guests began parting ways for the evening.

After the formal events had wrapped up, a small afterparty group met at Whitlow’s On Wilson in nearby Clarendon to buy David and Tiffany some drinks and enjoy some dancing to 90s and 2000s rock hits for the first time as newlyweds.