A Year in Photos: 2024
“Local journalism matters now more than ever—especially in a city like Atlanta. Time and time again during this election cycle, someone, somewhere, would stand behind a podium and declare that the road to the White House runs right through Atlanta. This year, I covered campaign events where 4 out of 6 men who have been President in the last 35 years were in attendance—all within a 2-hour drive of my home. I bushwacked through the woods of central Georgia with researchers searching for ticks. I got to climb aboard boats and navigate the rivers of Georgia to show how we interact, pollute, and preserve our waterways. I documented protesters singing and praying for peace while being carried away by law enforcement officers. I sat in the homes of everyday people willing to participate in the vulnerable act of letting our reporters tell their stories. At the same time, we wrestled with learning more about how significant ideas and issues affected our neighbors.
Below is a small selection of the photos that made up our public journal of what happened in and around Atlanta this year.”
-Matthew Pearson, News Photographer
Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks before a closed roundtable with voting rights activists in Atlanta, Ga on Tuesday, January 9, 2024 (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp speaks at the Georgia Chamber’s Eggs and Issues Breakfast at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA on January 10, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Third Grade Teacher Kelly Hobby leads her class in a phonetic exercise at A.L. Burruss Elementary in Marietta, Ga. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Dr. Karcheik Sims-Alvarado is the chair of the Fulton County Reparations Task Force, which is tasked with holding meetings and researching historical racial injustice in the county. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
The Rev. Kim Jackson performs a house blessing inside parishioner Jim Thompson’s new unit at The Melody, Atlanta’s first rapid housing facility on Wednesday, February 14, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
The Flint River hosts a diversity of unique wildlife and has been the center of a fight over private property rights. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event in Atlanta, GA, on Saturday, March 9, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Democratic state Rep. Pedro Marin, the legislature’s longest-serving Latino elected official, tears up as he delivers a farewell address to the Georgia House of Representatives on March 13, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Lt. Governor Burt Jones earns a run for the Senate during the House v. Senate Kickball Game in Atlanta on Wednesday, March 19, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
The Georgia Supreme Court hears oral arguments while in session on March 19, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns runs to the exit of the House Chambers after the legislative body adjourns Sine Die on March 28, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Spectators gather near the Beltline in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward to view the solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Arrests are made as Atlanta Police Department and Georgia State Partrol order Pro-Palestinian and “Cop City” protesters to disperse from the quad on Emory University campus on Thursday, April 25, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Rev. Keyanna Jones emphatically denies Emory President Fenves’ initial claim that outside agitators started last Thursday’s Pro-Palestenian encampment and protest during a press conference at Emory University hosted by the Atlanta Multifaith Coalition for Palestine on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
The sky reflects on the windows of an office building in Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta, Ga during the early morning on April 30, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Mike Meyer, the
Neighborhood Water Watch Program Director for the Chattahoochee RiverKeeper collects a water sample discharged from City of Atlanta’s R.M. Clayton wastewater treatment plan. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
The Resilient Class of 2024 enter their commencement ceremony at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga on Sunday, May 19, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Hundreds of flight attendants and allies rally for fair pay and equal benefits in downtown Atlanta on May 20, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Georgia Southern University student and Mableton resident Niles Francis talks on his cell phonde while grocery shopping near his home. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee stands by his wife as he announces that AP has called the race at his election night watch party at Mutation Brewing Company in Sandy Springs, Georgia, on Tuesday, May 21, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Malik Johnson sits at the table in the kitchen of his apartment in East Point, Ga. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Sylvester Pierce kayaks at Sweetwater State Park. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Emory researcher Arabella Lewis collects a tick off a square of white flannel in the woods of Putnam County, Georgia. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Residents look on as water sprays from at water main break at the intersection of Peachtree and 11th Street in Midtown Atlanta on Saturday, June 1, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
A list of City Councilmembers waiting to ask questions to Department of Watershed Management Commissioner Al Wiggins, Jr. about how the department is addressing multiple water main breaks that have occured over the past four days across the city during a City Council meeting on Monday, June 3, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Shaniqua Fitzpatrick, started going live on her personal TikTok account to share about the Grocery Spot in October 2022, when she would regularly come to get groceries. The nonprofit took notice and asked her to help in an official capacity. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Photographer Jim Alexander stands for a portrait in his studio in East Point, Ga. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands with Georgia first lady Marty Kemp and Governor Brian Kemp pose for a photo opportunity outside the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta on Monday, June 10, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Gocha Hawkins, the owner of Gocha’s Tapas Bar in southwest Atlanta poses for a portrait. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the first-ever Rocket Foundation Summit at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Ga on Tuesday, June 18, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Former actor and Chef Mitchell Anderson, works in the kitchen of the Metro Fresh in Midtown Atlanta. Anderson opened the restaurant 19 years ago after moving to the city with his husband. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Supporters of President Joe Biden attend a debate watch party in at hotel ballroom in Downtown Atlanta on June 26, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Josh McKoon, Chairman of the Georgia Republican Party speaks at a Protect The Vote event in Alpharetta, Ga on Wednesday, June 26, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Former Georgia Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan takes questions from reporters after a press conference at the Georgia State Capitol on June 26, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Former President Donald Trump arrives at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport ahead of the first Presidential Debate on Thursday, June 27, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
A hand is seen pressed against the cell window inside a dorm at the Fulton County Jail. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport was affected by a widespread communications outage on Friday, July 19, 2024, causing grounded flights and delays for thousands of passengers. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Delta Employees at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport work to reunite travelers with their luggage on Tuesday, July 23, 2024 as the airline struggles to catch up after Friday’s global outage. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
NAESM Financial Director Alex Zohore poses for a portrait in the nonprofit’s midtown Atlanta office. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Parker Short, President of the Georgia Young Democrats and graduate of Dekalb County Public Schools, speaks on the importance of courses like Advanced Placement African American Studies during a press conference at the Georgia State Capitol on Wednesday, July 24, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Annalinda Martinez plays with her children in their Kennesaw apartment. Martinez lost her oldest children after the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services discovered they were homeless. As the state demands she pay back a portion of the costs from their time in foster care, she’s afraid she could lose more. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
An old diving board sits on top of a grassy field where a segregated pool in East Point once existed. East Point is a city with 38,000 residents and no swimming pools. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Dr. Janice Johnston, member of the State Election Board enters after a brief recess during a meeting at the Capitol in Atlanta, Ga on Tuesday, August 6, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Broderick and Adam Davis show WABE Immigration reporter Emily Wu Pearson photos of their father, Mike Davis who had been deported to Ethiopia over 20 years ago. Their father is one of tens of thousands who did not recieve automatic citizenship with adoption. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
A dog up for adoption at the Fulton County Animal Shelter poses for the camera. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Lawyers and supporters of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an independent presidential candidate, gather inside a conference room outside of the courtroom, following a ballot challenge hearing on Monday, Aug. 19, 2024, in Atlanta. The hearing will help decide if Kennedy will appear on the ballot in November. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
First-time mom Hannah Cabe holding her baby daughter. They live in one of Georgia’s maternity care desert counties, which lack OB-GYN providers or childbirth facilities. More than 40% of Georgia counties don’t have childbirth facilities or OB-GYN providers, according to the March of Dimes, and the number is growing. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Smoke still plumes on Tuesday, October 1, 2024 from a chemical plant in Conyers, Georgia, where a chemical fire first started three days before. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Actress and activist Julia Roberts stumps for Democrats, including Vice President Kamala Harris during a rally in downtown Canton, Georgia on Wednesday, October 9, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Former President Bill Clinton greets voters outside a campaign field office in Columbus, Georgia on October 14, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
People line up around the building at the Tucker-Reid H. Cofer branch of the Dekalb County Public Library on the first day of early voting, Tuesday, October 15, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Former President Trump stands while a crowd of supporters cheer during a campaign rally in Cobb County, Ga on October 15, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Musical artist Usher skates the rink at Cascade Skating while encouraging roller skaters to vote during a non-partisan GOTV event in Atlanta, Ga. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Barrack Obama greet a crowd of supporters during a campaign rally in Clarkston, Ga on October 24, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Former President Donald Trump appears on stage at a campaign rally in Duluth, Ga on October 23, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp speaks at a GOTV event in Cumming, Georgia on October 26, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Former First Lady Michell Obama holds her hand to her chest in gratitude in response to a cheering crowd during a non-partisan GOTV event near Atlanta, Ga on October 29, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz speaks at a Get Out the Vote rally in Atlanta on Nov. 3, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger speaks at a pre-election day press conference at the Georgia State Capitol on Monday, November 4, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
A Trump supporters shadow is cast on a campaign sign during a campaign rally in Cobb County, Ga on November 4, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Vice President Kamala Harris makes her first appearance in Atlanta, Ga on July 9, 2024, after launching her presidential campaign. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
The Jonesboro High Majestic Marching Cardinals perform in the Jonesboro High School Gym during a media day presentation on Monday, November 11, 2024. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Niamke Shropshire-Boykin unloads some composted soil at the community garden where Afro Ag grows produce. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Deanna McKay voted from President Biden in the 2020 election but after watching the debate, McKay is hesitant to even cast vote in the upcoming presidential election. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
