2020: Disneyland's Most Exclusive Year

Luck plays a big role in being a travel photographer, because a random story can sometimes elevate snapshots into a document of something more profound.

I certainly couldn't have predicted it at the time, but when Disneyland in Anaheim, California closed around this time last year at the start of the pandemic, suddenly having images that were shot inside the park in 2020 (in retrospect) turned our touristy day off at 'the Happiest Place on Earth' into one of my most exclusive travel shoots.

On March 14, 2020 both Disneyland and California Adventure closed to the public. After lasting more than a year, plans for reopening have finally been scheduled for April 2021, but this closure is unlike anything Disneyland has experienced since it first opened in 1955. 

To put it dramatically, there were only 10 weeks a person could have gone to Disneyland in 2020 making it the most exclusive year in the park's history. 

What's interesting about shooting travel content professionally is that you quickly learn to lean into a lot of what you can't control. It just so happened that coincidentally timing a visit to one of the world's most popular tourist destinations a few weeks before a global pandemic turned a casual shoot into something archival practically overnight.  

What does this mean? Nothing really. But in a year filled with a lot of nothing, it's just a bit crazy to have such a stark contrast stuck in my head between then and now. 

I still have hundreds of images of Disneyland from the 2020 visit yet to be released, but just after the closing last year I posted a new series from Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge that immediately took off amid the publicity surrounding the park closures. I can't help but draw comparisons to my travel shoots in Paris last year, where otherwise timeless destinations were instantly dated by the realities that 2020 brought.

As the reopenings continue, and as I find myself trying to build some context around the changes of this last year, I do think it's funny that a random trip to Disneyland became a novelty because of the date. Then again, I feel like a lot things are going to seem like a novelty after 2020.

The Rebuilding of Notre Dame Cathedral

Following the devastating fire in April 2019, the reconstruction of Notre Dame in Paris, France has become an increasingly complicated and daunting task. While the twin towers of the cathedral survived the fire, efforts to restore the roof, spire, and stone vaulting that were lost could realistically take several decades to rebuild as they were.

There's no denying that Notre Dame Cathedral is still a stunning structure to behold, even behind the myriad of scaffolding and equipment now blocking the view. Built between 1163 and 1345, Notre Dame is regarded as one of the most recognizable buildings in Paris and a symbol of France. This was further reinforced as a billion dollars in donations poured in following the fire. 

These images showcase the state of Notre Dame as it appeared in late 2020.

 

USS Lexington Aircraft Carrier in Corpus Christi, Texas

Launched in late 1942, the USS Lexington (CV-16) is a United States Navy Essex-class aircraft carrier that served in the Pacific during World War II. The ship was renamed during construction to commemorate the USS Lexington (CV-2) which was lost during the Battle of the Corral Sea. This became the fifth U.S. Navy ship to bear the Lexington name.   

The USS Lexington was nicknamed "the Blue Ghost" by Tokyo Rose / Japanese propaganda during the War because it was (falsely) reported sunk four times, but kept returning to battle. The ship also had a unique blue / gray paint scheme which set it apart.

Following World War II, the USS Lexington saw renewed service as an attack carrier, and later a training carrier. She was eventually decommissioned in 1991 and went on to be docked in Corpus Christi, Texas as the USS Lexington Museum on the Bay where she remains today.

Explore additional images from the flight deck of the USS Lexington here.

Corpus Christi, Texas.

Flight Deck of the USS Lexington Aircraft Carrier

A few visuals of the planes and vintage military equipment on display from the flight deck of the USS Lexington Aircraft Carrier docked in Corpus Christi, Texas.