Pictures of the Year 2022
Owasso football player Cole Adams(left) talks with senior Viktoria Lim about the bow in her hair n a class for students with special needs at Owasso High School Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022 in Tulsa, Ok. Looking on is senior Jayden Brown. - Watching Owasso football player and Alabama commit Cole Adams on the football field is thrilling. Big plays and emotion make it exciting. I have photographed him for years and wrongly thought that was the most impressive thing about him. I thought that until I went to Stephanie Barger’s classroom for students with special needs. Adams works as a mentor in the class. As a jaded and cynical photojournalist, it takes a lot for an athlete to impress me with good deeds. I have been to enough photo ops with athletes that turn out to be nothing more than that, a photo op. But Adams entered the room, as he does nearly every day, and he greeted every classmate by name. He seemed to have as much or more fun than them. He hugged the ones that wanted a hug. He colored with the ones that wanted to color. Most importantly he made every one of them feel special and loved.
Firefighters work at the scene of a fire at Coventry Park apartments Thursday, March 10, 2022 in Tulsa, Okla. A personal note about drones. I am thrilled with this new tool for our job. From the ground the photos of this scene were pretty static and boring. I had no idea all of the activity that was happening until I took off. You’ll see a bunch of drone photos below too. What an amazing tool!
David Ware is escorted from a courtroom at the Tulsa County Courthouse as a jury deliberated his sentence in the killing of Tulsa Police Sgt. Craig Johnson in Tulsa, Okla. The jury ultimately recommended a death sentence. When Tulsa World photographers cover the courthouse we can spend days standing in the hallway waiting for the same photo over and over again of deputies walking defendants into and out of court. I’ve always felt like that is important. It can be monotonous, but if we don’t do that, the photo that runs in the paper is a mug shot of the defendant in their prison jumpsuit. Most of the time when we’re making these photos the defendants are still “innocent until proven guilty.” At the very least, we show the public a photo of them arriving to defend themselves against unproven charges. When this photo was made, Ware was guilty, the charges proven and decided by a jury. The jury had just started deliberating whether to recommend a death sentence. Ware was taken to a holding cell to await his fate. When they leave the courtroom, the defendants are always walked to the elevator, faced to look out the window until the elevator arrives. A television reporter asked a question. I’m always amazed by the power of still photographs. Even though Ware said no comment, the look on his face was a comment all its own. In a couple hours, Ware would be escorted back to the same courtroom to hear the jury recommend he be sentenced to death.
Volunteers use a boat to try to push cattle to higher ground in floodwater on Highway 16 west of Muskogee Thursday, May 5, 2022
Workers from Mid-Continental Restoration Company work to re-seal joints on the steeple at Boston Avenue United Methodist Church Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022 in Tulsa, Okla.
In June I covered the aftermath of the shooting at Saint Francis Hospital. I stood outside of the funeral of Dr. Stephanie Husen which is what the family preferred. We always defer to what families want when we cover funerals. Watching her father carry her cremains out of the church to the waiting hearse was incredibly sad. A father walking daughter out of church for the last time. I also covered the funeral of Dr. Preston Phillips who seemed like such a wonderful man. All of this just terrible. At a news conference the day after the shooting Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum looked up to the balcony of the hospital and thanked the workers that care for all of us for showing back up.
Supporters, alumnae and community members line the sidewalk to welcome students as they make their way into McLain High School Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022 Tulsa, Ok. About 100 people cheered and applauded students as they made their way into the school for the first day of classes since a shooting at Friday night's football game. - This was a beautiful moment to watch after a horrific event. So nice to see the smiles on the kids faces. Their reaction as they arrived at school was like a hug from mom in public. You’re embarassed, act like you don’t really want it, but deep down you feel loved. These students felt loved on that morning.
In July while working on a story about how vulnerable populations were dealing with the intense heat, I photographed Brent Thurman. He was lying on the sidewalk, unable to move and trying to drink fluids. He struggled to tell me that security officers from Hillcrest had dumped him on the sidewalk overnight and he couldn’t move to help himself. The Tulsa World obtained video that appeared to corroborate his story. He was suffering from an infection. Residents in the downtown condominium that he lived behind found him later in the day. They called an ambulance and got him to Saint Francis Hospital and advocated for his care. Turned out he had an infection. After a spinal surgery, he was paralyzed for weeks. He has since been transferred to a nursing home near Arkansas, and remains somewhat immobile. See the video below.
There has been a lot of talk about education in Oklahoma in the news recently. People accusing schools of placing books to harm children, and going so far as talk of indoctrination. But this photo gets to the heart of public education. Students at the end of the summer so excited to see their former teachers, and the teachers so excited to see the students. This is public education, not all that other stuff. - Mayo Demonstration School students Canon Blackford(left), Ruby Bevel, Riley Blackford and Harriet Daly perch on a ledge to talk with former teachers including pre-kindergarten teacher Jessica Bond(visible in the window) Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022 in Tulsa, Okla.
I love covering preps football. Yes, the action on the field is great, and I marvel at the athletes competing. But, probably my favorite part of preps happens off the field. Whether they be student fans, band members or off the field athletes like cheerleaders. Union cheerleader Madison Wise hoisted a fellow cheerleader into the air. I thought it was amazing they could do it. When the cheerleader on top wobbled a little, Wise’s reaction was priceless. She kept her up.
Owasso quarterback Tyler Caviness is hoisted into the air after their win over Edmond North in their football game Friday, Oct. 7, 2022 in Owasso, Ok.
Stillwater players, incuding Gage Gundy(center right) host the state championship trophy after defeating Choctaw in their 6AII state championship football game at Chad Richison Stadium on the campus of the University of Central Oklahoma Friday, Dec. 2, 2022 in Edmond, Okla.
I covered every Owasso football game this season. I have for several seasons now. They have gotten used to seeing me, and let me into the locker room to make photos. The team had so many injuries this year. I don’t know how they kept suiting up. Somehow, the team made it to the state championship game. I told coach Bill Blankenship recently that this had to be his best coaching job in his time at Owasso. He said it was very rewarding. I still don’t know how they did it.
The PGA Championship was held at Southern Hills Country Club. I loved every minute of covering it. I was thrilled to get to cover Tiger Woods at least one more time before one of us retires. I wrote about what it is like to cover a Major here: tulsaworld.com
The City of Tulsa and researchers are looking for victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Most of the work has taken place at Oaklawn Cemetery with bodies exhumed for further study. At the end of each dig, graves are filled back in. I try to make it out every day that they work whether I have an assignment for the next day’s paper or not. Although the City of Tulsa is providing photos and video, I believe it’s very important that independent journalists observe and document this entire process.
Located in the Tar Creek Superfund site, all but a few residents of Picher took buyouts from the federal government and relocated. The town was demolished in 2011. Every year, on the first Saturday in December, former residents and their families come home for a Christmas parade. They stand on building foundations and point to where their houses used to be. They hug old friends and meet their children and grandchildren. They line the street and cheer. Large chat piles still loom, but the town comes back to life. And, moments after the last float passes with Santa and Mrs. Claus, Picher empties out and becomes a silent ghost town again. Hear from people attending the parade here! www.mikesimonsphoto.com/picherchristmas