Planted on parkland
around the Washington
Monument, the small white
flags were both tributes
to and symbols of each
life lost to COVID-19 in
the United States. Artist
Suzanne Brennan Firsten-
berg devised the installation
to express the enormity of
the national death toll—and
also the pain of individual
deaths, as mourners deco-
rated flags with loved ones’
names and photos. During
the roughly three weeks
that the installation was
in place, the U.S. passed a
grim milestone: 700,
COVID fatalities.
To create this composite
image, Stephen Wilkes
took hundreds of photos
from the same vantage
point during 30 hours
spanning three days.
He then merged select
photos into this single
scene. Learn more about
Wilkes’s “Day to Night”
technique on page 25.
THE PANDEMIC TOLL MOUNTS
PHOTOGRAPH BY
STEPHEN WILKESWashington, D.C.IN THE MIDST OF 20
ACRES OF FLAGS, LOVED
ONES KNOW THEY ARE
NO LONGER MOURNING
ON THEIR OWN.”
—Suzanne Brennan
Firstenberg, artistSEPT. 17-