From Surfside to sports, 2021 was a memorable year for South Florida photos and video

David Santiago

Here in South Florida we are prepared to cover all types of news events including hurricanes and in my case, the aftermath of the shooting at Fort Lauderdale airport on January 6, 2017. That event was surreal, but nothing had ever hurt my soul like seeing the collapse of the Champlain Towers South Condo in Surfside.

When I got to the scene, I was overwhelmed. I had never seen so much rubble. With the other half of the building still standing, I was left wondering if it was sufficiently secured. I immediately remembered 9/11. The only word that describes the scene was ”chaos.” It was a challenge to photograph because there was so much was happening. It was hard to focus with people crying, helicopters flying overhead, bulldozers pushing the rubble, and police car sirens. But I saw that white bunk bed, I got goosebumps, everything stopped. First thing I thought about was hoping that the apartment was empty when the collapse happened. In 18 years working for el Nuevo Herald and the Miami Herald, nothing impacted me as much as covering the aftermath of this event.

Matias J. Ocner

Capturing South Florida’s football scene through my lens was one of the most satisfying assignments I got to participate in this year. Sports writer David Wilson and I visited about 10 South Florida high school football teams. One of the images that stood out above the rest was Miami Central athlete Antwan Sheppard as he walked back to the locker room after a lightning alarm temporarily suspended a preseason practice at Miami Central Senior High School.

As the students walked back to their locker, I noticed a large raincloud making its way toward the school’s field. I composed the image, exposed for the light and waited for Antwan to walk past as I snapped it. Looking back, the image reminds me of the storm of emotions these young men go through as they prepare for the football season. There is a lot of pressure and expectations lying on their shoulders, as their success on the field can bring them college scholarship offers. The students pour their heart and soul into practice and work extremely hard to make every day count. It truly was a humbling experience to capture all of their hard work and I look forward to doing it again next year.

José A. Iglesias

As pool photographer for a memorial service to signal the end of search and rescue efforts at the scene of the building collapse, I photographed members of the teams along with police and workers who had been toiling at the site of the collapse gather for a moment of prayer and silence next to the collapsed tower.

It was a poignant moment. The search to rescue survivors of the collapse turned into a recovery effort after this ceremony.

Pedro Portal

News out of the island of Cuba affects South Florida and Miami in particular. The popular protests against the Cuban regime and the ruling Communist Party that began on July 11 were violently repressed by police and military, leading to more than 1,000 detainees, more than 600 of which remain in prison.

The Cuban exile community in Miami expressed their support for those in the island in many protests, including caravans and blockades of expressways. They also attended several religious masses at La Ermita de la Caridad (Our Lady of Charity National Shrine), dedicated to Cuba’s patron saint. This picture captures the mood of these days, a mix of absolute concern for the arrested, and a feeling of hope for a future change (cloudy skies, winds moving royal palms, and believers from different religions gathered for the same purpose of Cuba).

Al Diaz

Kneeling low on the southeast corner sideline at Hard Rock Stadium, I crammed myself in among my fellow sports photographers and video crews. Anticipating a play to come in my direction, I put down my long lens and switched to my Canon 1D-X Mark II DSLR camera body with a 70-200mm /f2.8L lens for close-up action.

Miami Dolphins offensive lineman Robert Hunt, playing right guard, pulls a pass out of the air and rumbles to the end zone. Hunt cuts past one defender and gets hit low and flips into the air as he stretches the ball out, landing upside down on the goal line in the fourth quarter against the Baltimore Ravens at Hard Rock Stadium on Nov. 11.

Confusion reigned as we debated whether or not Hunt had crossed the goal line, and why the penalty flag?

Officials called the play back for illegal touching. Hunt had not been declared eligible and therefore he could not be the first player to touch a pass thrown by the quarterback.

The arrangement of the visual elements, of line, shape, color, form, balance and movement creates a perfect storm of symmetry that leads me straight to the football. A good composition draws the viewer in and then moves the viewer’s eye around the whole image so that everything is taken in, finally settling on the main subject of the photograph, the determination seen in Robert Hunt’s eyes.

Emily Michot

In collaboration with the investigative reporting nonprofit ProPublica, Miami Herald reporters Carol Marbin Miller and Daniel Chang published a series of articles on April 8, revealing how a program created to help the families of children with profound birth-related brain damage hoarded assets while denying families basic care and services, including wheelchairs, therapy, transportation and in-home nursing.

As part of the series, Daniel and I spent a day with NICA recipient Justin Nguyen and his mom, Choi “Julie” Nguyen, and sisters Jessica and Jennifer Pham, in their Jacksonville home. As challenging as life is for Justin and his family, I think the image of this tender moment gives a glimpse into the immense love and devotion that goes into caring for Justin.

Following the series, after decades of neglect, lawmakers took notice. Within weeks, the Legislature unanimously passed a NICA overhaul. The legislation included a $150,000 boost — from $100,000 to $250,000 — in the one-time parental award, retroactive for all current enrollees, and a $40,000 increase in the program’s death benefit, from $10,000 to $50,000, retroactive for the parents of children who are deceased. Other reforms included a $100,000 reimbursement to make homes accessible to wheelchairs and other mobility equipment, a $10,000 annual mental health subsidy, and the requirement that administrators ensure each child has wheelchair-accessible transportation.

Carl Juste

I find it amazing how those in pain can heal others. After laying his mother to rest, Kendrick Meek embraced Alex Fernandez, reminding him that his mother Carrie P. Meek’s death was not a loss but a victory of a life well-lived.

Daniel A. Varela

I consider this image my favorite because it perfectly embodies the nature of this job. Reporter C. Isaiah Smalls II and I we tag-teamed this assignment to tell a great local story while surmounting multiple obstacles. Using sources in the Wynwood area we cultivated from a previous assignment, we caught wind of the exclusive event with Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade and secured some credentials. Once we were there, nothing went to plan. The organizers pushed back the start time, we were declined our original interview slot in a private room, and the access was limited to say the least. We however managed to collect all the content we had come for and our patience was rewarded. Despite a number of setbacks we adapted. We executed the job, and what’s more, I know how to build on that experience to improve for the next round.

I love the image because we had to be flexible and it is this aspect of my job that has helped me grow as a visual journalist. You wouldn’t know it, but there were about a hundred people flanking both sides of me and the subject. He could barely hear my direction and a lot of the frames I snapped were not what I wanted. I had maybe four minutes before his security whisked him away.