The thread that runs through 2023’s Style Weekly Photos of the Year is made of big highs and big lows.
The big highs mostly involved events and festivals, where post-pandemic Richmonders came out in droves. The big crowds for Friday Cheers, 804 Day, Richmond Folk Festival, the Easter Parade, Dominion Energy Riverrock, and the successful debut of the Iron Blossom Music Festival, all made for dynamic settings. Top-notch performers wowed the enthusiastic crowds and made for good photography.
The lows involved a mass shooting outside the Altria Theater right after a Huguenot High School graduation that took the lives of a father and son; Richmond Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras begging for an end to gun violence; the heartbreaking death of promising Virginia Commonwealth University student Shawn Soares, killed while walking along Main Street after a nearby car crash (one of an increasingly concerning number of downtown pedestrian deaths and accidents); as well as the tragic death of a Binford Middle School student, Marquan Mitchell-Nash, in a gun-related accident.
Along the way, I met locals like Edward Gore II, who stands outside Fairfield Elementary every morning greeting students, so they have someone to count on; Dawud Kennedy, a former inmate working at a shop on Broad Street, and Billy Rice, who quietly makes the Richmond music scene a better place with his volunteer efforts. These people and hundreds of others make my job one of great privilege, and help even out those unfortunate lows.
1: Akoma de Gado Dancers perform at the Juneteenth celebration at Dorey Park on June 17.
2: Sierra Ferrell, recently nominated as artist of the year by the Americana Music Honors and Awards, turned in a stellar performance at Friday Cheers on Brown’s Island on May 12. A large crowd packed the island where they sang along with Ferrell, enjoying perfect weather and cheering the passing trains.
3: A scion of America’s most famous political family, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke to a standing-room-only crowd at the new Ember Music Hall in downtown Richmond on Aug. 23. About 400 people packed the hall to listen to Kennedy explain why he should be the next President of the United States.
4: Kids with their iPhones watch the always entertaining Ultimate Airdog competition at Dominion Energy Riverrock on May 20.
5. Mako, one of the best ultimate air dogs in the country, lifts off during the 2023 Dominion Energy Riverrock Outdoor Festival on May 20.
6: Edward R. Gore II, lead care and safety associate for Fairfield Court Elementary, greets a student as she arrives for school on March 2.
7: Flanked by Richmond City Council President Mike Jones (left) and Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, Superintendent of Richmond Public Schools Jason Kamras, still in his graduation robe, addresses the press regarding the unfolding mass shooting in Monroe Park after a Huguenot High School graduation. The shooting claimed two lives and wounded five others.
8: Zambian artist, Sampa the Great, performs at Friday Cheers on Brown’s Island on June 2.
9: Energetic New Orleans group, Tank and the Bangas, at Friday Cheers on June 16.
10: Dozens gathered at the Firehouse Theater on Sept. 25 to commemorate the life and legacy of founding artistic director Carol Piersol by naming the stage after her. As family, friends and associates of Firehouse and 5th Wall Theatre watched, Nathaniel Shaw, executive director of the New Theatre at Firehouse, and Emily Vial, Firehouse associate technical director, pulled down a covering to reveal fresh silver lettering on the wall of the theater’s lobby.
11: A young couple enjoys the music of Lord Huron at the Iron Blossom Music Festival on Aug. 26.
12: Dawud Kennedy stands outside of Haqq’s Drawer, a community-focused, cultural apparel store at 11 E. Broad St on Nov. 3. Having spent 25 years in prison, he reflected “Some of us are in search of regaining our strength to deal with humanity in a way that helps everyone.”
13: Chicago-based guitarist, songwriter and vocalist, Melody Angel, performs at the Richmond Folk Festival on Oct. 13.
14: Googzs performs at 804 Day music festival in Shockoe Bottom on Friday, Aug. 4.
15: A Richmond-based Panamanian traditional dance group performs at the Que Pasa Festival on Brown’s Island on May 6.
16: Musician Victor Haskins at 804 Day music festival Shockoe Bottom on Friday, Aug. 4.
17: Friends and family gather at Monroe Park for a community candlelight vigil to honor the memory of Shawn Soares. Soares, 26, a master’s degree student in business administration at VCU, was killed while walking on the sidewalk along Main Street on May 4. Two cars driving West Main Street collided, sending one careening onto the sidewalk where it struck Soares. State Senator Ghazala Hashmi, City Council member Stephanie Lynch and Soares’ longtime girlfriend, Anna Bryson, all spoke.
18: Virginia Commonwealth University student Rena Bridge won VCUʼs 2023 Jurgen Banned Art Comics contest grand prize of $1,000 for “A Quick History of Gay Batman,” a humorous look at ongoing discussions about the nature of Batman and Robin’s relationship.
19: Charles Willis, executive director of United Citizens Against Crime, holds a photo of Marquan Mitchell-Nash at a vigil on Stockton Street on March 23. The 7th-grade Binford Middle School student was killed on March 10, while he and other students were filming a video and using guns as props. The gun accidentally went off, killing Mitchell-Nash.
20: A double rainbow at Tuckahoe Creek Park on Aug. 8.
21: A sign stating “We killed it but it just won’t die,’ regarding the Richmond Grand Casino’s upcoming vote, was seen at the Richmond Zombie walk in Carytown on Oct. 28. Richmond voters soon said “no” again, by an even larger margin, to the second casino referendum.
22: The Easter Bunny takes a break during the annual Easter Parade on April 8.
23: Family members hold candles at a vigil for Tyreese Robinson on Feb. 8 in Gilpin Court. Robinson, 30, was killed in a shooting outside the Tiger Mart in the Gilpin Court neighborhood on Jan. 27. Terry Brown, Jr., 25, of Richmond, also died in the incident. They were the third and fourth homicide victims of the year in the city.
24: Billy Rice, board member at JAMinc, camera operator at In Your Ear, and artist-host at the Richmond Folk Fest, enjoys RVA Music Night at Brown’s Island on Friday, May 26.
25: Fashion show participant Iyanna Harris modeling at the The Girls For A Change Thomas Jefferson High School Girl Action Team (which partnered with RVA Fashion Week) for a show on the grounds of the school on April 18. With runway themes ranging from “Spring, At Last” and “Prom Night” to “The State of RVA Street Style,” the students dazzled the crowd for two hours.
