Faces
“A mask tells us more than a face.”—Oscar Wilde
The Faces of 2020
With the onset of COVID-19 enveloping the world, human beings were forced to adapt to new ways of existing and interacting. Now that protective face masks have become the new, prominent display of one’s expression, we retrain our focus toward the eyes, and the story within.
At a busy crossroads outside of the Mall at Fairfield Commons in Beavercreek, OH, two children in COVID-19 face masks look on as participants protest against the death of George Floyd on June 1, 2020.
During the first "COVID-19 Halloween," masks take two forms: the scary and Halloween-themed, and the practical. Regarding the latter, a trick-or-treater wears a COVID-19 face mask while waiting for candy outside a family friend's home in Dayton, OH on October 30, 2020.
Growing in popularity, personalized COVID-19 masks pop up across the country as designers adapt to the rapidly changing world and need for personal safety when leaving one's house. Here, a voter dons a stylish COVID-19 face mask while waiting for a friend to exit a polling place on Election Night in Dayton, OH on November 3, 2020.
A young woman wearing a COVID-19 face mask and holding a sign displaying some of George Floyd's last words protests his death outside the Mall at Fairfield Commons in Beavercreek, OH, on June 1, 2020.
Attending a socially distanced gathering in Dayton, OH on September 20, 2020, a woman in a blue COVID-19 face mask holds a small sign honoring the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Dayton native, Desiree Tims, checks her phone on the morning of Election Day, November 3, 2020. Tims, a Democrat who ran against incumbent U.S. Representative Mike Turner (R) in Ohio's 10th District, ultimately lost the election, but plans to continue to make an impact in her beloved city.
Two young woman in COVID-19 face masks protest the death of George Floyd outside the Mall at Fairfield Commons in Beavercreek, OH, on June 1, 2020.
Celebrating the win of President-Elect Joseph R. Biden, a woman dons a COVID-19 face mask and hat covered in pins supporting Biden and other Democratic candidates during a socially distanced caravan party in Kettering, OH on November 8, 2020.
A volunteer for the Desiree Tims (D) for Congress campaign stands outside of a polling place in Dayton, OH on November 3, 2020.
With a Biden sign reflected in his sunglasses, a man looks on during a socially distanced caravan party honoring the president-elect in Kettering, OH on November 8, 2020.
During a vigil honoring the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Dayton, OH on September 20, 2020, a woman holds a candle in solidarity.
As Oakwood, OH's Wright Memorial Public Library plans its reopening with COVID-19 restrictions in-place, a library staffer dons a COVID-19 face mask featuring the library's logo on December 14, 2020.