2023, the year in photos: Strikes, floods, fire and war

Times Photography Staff
·11 min read

It's hard to capture a year in a single word, but for 2023, the word might just be turbulent.

Consider the floodwaters that roiled California, the unruly debates that shook Capitol Hill, the strikes that paralyzed Hollywood. And, of course, a new war in the Middle East. Turbulent.

But along with conflict, 2023 also saw moments of discovery and reinvention, tenderness and fun. Relive them and more through the work of L.A. Times photographers.

Themes of 2023

Weather

Workers brush floodwater in Union Station.
Metro workers help clear a flooded pedestrian walkway at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles in January amid unrelenting rain. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
A person shovels snow from a roof.
Owner Brang Miller shovels snow off the roof of Mammoth Fun Shop in Mammoth Lakes. Up and down California, snow records fell in 2023. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Vehicles on a flooded road.
A recreational vehicle lies at the bottom of a cliff by a river.
Persistent rain undermines a cliff along the Santa Clara River in Castaic in February, sending a recreational vehicle to the bottom. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Peartree Lane landslide in Rolling Hills.
Homes on Peartree Lane in Rolling Hills Estates continue to slide downhill months after the hillside below gave way in July. A city report would later blame "unusually heavy" rains for the landslide. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
An aerial view of a tree fallen onto cars.
In January, a tree topples at the El Camino Shopping Center in Woodland Hills, trapping some people inside their cars. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
A man wades through knee-deep water carrying a birdcage.
Herbeto Estrada rescues two birds from his flooded home in the Central California community of Pajaro in March. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
A flooded pistachio grove.
In July, months after pounding rains, the Hansen Farms' pistachio grove remains underwater near the edge of Tulare Lake in Corcoran. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Residents from a senior living facility are held by firefighters in a front loader while being brought to safety.
Residents from a senior living facility, held safe by firefighters, are evacuated in a front loader. The facility in Cathedral City was inundated with flooding by Tropical Storm Hilary in August. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
The morning sun creates shadows from the pier across the sand and water and a surfer heading out.
The weather in 2023 wasn't all bad. On a sunny day with clear skies in October, a surfer prepares to hit the waves at Huntington Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Drug Epidemic Israel-Gaza L.A. and Beyond Losses Maui Migrants Border Monterey Park People Politics Weather

Strikes

A man holds a Writers Guild strike sign reading "No Words."
Writer and producer Bill Diamond joins the Writers Guild of America picket line outside Sony Studios in Culver City. The strike, launched in May, would finally end in September. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Writers Guild members protest during a strike.

Drug Epidemic Israel-Gaza Losses Maui Migrants Border Monterey Park People Politics Strikes Weather

L.A. and Beyond

A diver retrieves coral transplants.
Nikkie Cox of the Coral Restoration Foundation retrieves young corals from an ocean nursery off the Florida Keys for safekeeping in land-based aquariums. The foundation works to save corals threatened by extremely warm waters because of climate change. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
A firefighter stands near burning debris.
Forest Service firefighters in the Angeles National Forest burn piles of forest debris below Mt. Baldy in November. Controlled burns are part of the service's forest management practices. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
An annular solar eclipse is seen reflected in small binoculars against a photograph.
A solar eclipse in October is seen reflected in a small set of binoculars. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Students look at ladybugs in a kit.
Transitional kindergarten students discover the wonder of ladybugs at Oropeza Elementary School in Long Beach. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
A man surfs with a goat.
Chupacabrah, a surfing goat (yes, it's a thing), is flipped off a giant surfboard along with five human surfers at San Onofre Beach. Chupacabrah's owner, Dana McGregor, is the only one who manages to hold on. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
A dog jumps at Delta K9 Academy in North Hollywood.
Mike Israeli breeds, trains and sells protection dogs for up to $70,000 at Delta K9 Academy in North Hollywood. L.A. homeowners have created a market for top-of-the-line guard dogs. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
A group of people work on power poles.
Students in an electric and power transmission installation training program hit the power poles at Los Angeles Trade Technical College. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
A woman takes a deep breath and blows out the candle at the end of a psychosocial workshop at San Juan Bautista Church.
At San Juan Bautista Church in Cotzal, Guatemala, Catarina blows out a candle at the end of a workshop held for people who experienced or witnessed violence during the country's 36-year civil war. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
LAPD officers grapple with protesters.
Los Angeles Police officers try to keep counterprotesters away from a group demonstrating against LGBTQ+ education near the downtown offices of the Los Angeles Unified School District. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Aerial view of the 10 Freeway days after a large pallet fire.
An aerial view shows the remains of a large pallet fire that burned below the 10 Freeway in November. A portion of the busy Los Angeles roadway was shut down more than a week as crews repaired the damage. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
A man is confined in an outdoor cage in the exercise yard of a California State Prison.
A dog looks out of its cage at the Lancaster Animal Care Center.
A dog looks out of its cage at the Lancaster Animal Care Center. A Times investigation found that the Lancaster and Palmdale animal shelters, both in the Antelope Valley, euthanize more dogs — and at a higher rate — than other county facilities. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Read more: Photos: The biggest L.A. sports moments in 2023

Drug Epidemic Israel-Gaza L.A. and Beyond Losses Maui Migrants Border Monterey Park People Strikes Weather

Politics

Gov. Gavin Newsom joins the People's March on Tower Bridge during his inauguration ceremony for a second term.
In an event billed as the People's March, Gov. Gavin Newsom crosses Tower Bridge in Sacramento prior to his inauguration ceremony in January. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
Rep. Kevin McCarthy is elected speaker of the House of Representatives on Jan. 7.
Mayor Karen Bass with Jawonna Smith, 33, who lived in a tent on a sidewalk before she was moved to a motel.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass chats with Jawonna Smith, 33, who lives in a tent on a sidewalk behind the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, before she was moved to a motel under the "Inside Safe" program. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis tells a crowd at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley that a "woke mind virus" was infiltrating schools, corporations and other institutions in California. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Sen. Dianne Feinstein is pushed in a wheelchair to attend a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington in May.
California Sen. Dianne Feinstein attends a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington in May. It was her first hearing after an illness kept her away from the Senate for almost three months. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
Rep Nancy Pelosi, left, pays her respects to Sen. Dianne Feinstein as she lies in state at San Francisco City Hall.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, left, pays her respects as Sen. Dianne Feinstein lies in state at San Francisco City Hall. Feinstein, the first woman to represent California in the Senate, died Sept. 28. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Read more: Photos: Times features photographers' favorite moments in 2023

Drug Epidemic Israel-Gaza L.A. and Beyond Losses Maui Monterey Park People Politics Strikes Weather

Migrants Border

People who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border are led to a Border Patrol processing center along the banks of the Rio Grande.
People who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border are led, single file, to a Border Patrol processing center along the banks of the Rio Grande in Texas. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Migrants wait next to Border Patrol agents.

Drug Epidemic Israel-Gaza L.A. and Beyond Maui Migrants Border Monterey Park People Politics Strikes Weather

Losses

Sheriff's deputies attend a candlelight vigil for L.A. County Sheriff Ryan Clinkunbroomer.
Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies hold a vigil for Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer, who was killed Sept. 16 in Palmdale when a gunman in another vehicle pulled up to his patrol car at a traffic light and shot him in the head. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Members of the Combat Veterans Assn. motorcycle club view a growing memorial to victims.
Members of the Combat Veterans Assn. view a growing memorial to victims of a mass shooting in September at Cook's Corner in Trabuco Canyon. A gunman killed three people and wounded six others before he was fatally shot by Orange County sheriff's deputies. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Keith Morrison, second from right, walks with police investigators down the street from Matthew Perry's house.
A "Ghost Tire Memorial'' in memory of the victims of a driver who killed four Pepperdine students.

Drug Epidemic Israel-Gaza L.A. and Beyond Losses Migrants Border Monterey Park People Politics Strikes Weather

Maui

Driven by fierce winds, a fire raged through the Hawaiian island of Maui in August, killing more than 90.

Drug Epidemic Israel-Gaza L.A. and Beyond Losses Maui Migrants Border People Politics Strikes Weather

Monterey Park

The Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park, after police tape was taken down. Eleven people died in the mass shooting during a Lunar New Year’s Eve celebration.

Drug Epidemic L.A. and Beyond Losses Maui Migrants Border Monterey Park People Politics Strikes Weather

Israel Gaza

A Palestinian boy slings a rock at Israeli forces as local Palestinians protest Israeli occupation in the West Bank.
A Palestinian boy slings a rock at Israeli forces as local Palestinians protest Israeli occupation in the West Bank.
Israeli Merkava battle tank units regroup near the border of Gaza, in the southern part of Israel, on Oct. 14.
Two people embrace as they pay their last respect to MirelaOs son Daniel Levy who was killed in the BeOeri Kibbutz
Two people embrace as they pay their last respect to MirelaOs son Daniel Levy who was killed in the BeOeri Kibbutz
Mourners carry the nine bodies of 13 Palestinians killed in an Israeli assault on the Nour Shams refugee camp.

Israel-Gaza L.A. and Beyond Losses Maui Migrants Border Monterey Park People Politics Strikes Weather

Drug Epidemic

Mexicali police officer Sergio Lopez checks for a pulse after a man overdosed in downtown Mexicali.
Mexicali police officer Sergio Lopez checks for a pulse after a man overdoses on drugs in the Mexican border city. Red Cross paramedics arrive soon after to assist and take him to the hospital. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
At right, seated on a subway train, a young man with dark blond hair and a baseball cap smokes fentanyl.
Matthew Morales smokes fentanyl on the Metro Red Line leaving MacArthur Park in Los Angeles. By the time the subway train arrives at the Wilshire/Western station, Morales is doubled over and near motionless. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Drug Epidemic Israel-Gaza L.A. and Beyond Losses Maui Migrants Border Monterey Park Politics Strikes Weather

People

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence participate in the WeHo Pride Parade.
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence participate in the WeHo Pride Parade in West Hollywood. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Dennis Kasumba throws an old tire to build strength outside his home in Guyaza, Uganda.
Dennis Kasumba throws an old tire to build strength outside his home in Guyaza, Uganda.
Frederick Keys player Dennis Kasumba signs autographs for fans prior to a game with the Trenton Thunder.
Graduating inmate Richard Teer, in cap and gown, prepares for the Offender Mentor Certification Program graduation ceremony.
Richard Teer, an inmate at the state prison in Lancaster, readies his cap and gown to participate in a graduation ceremony for inmates who completed a program that trained them to become alcohol and drug counselors. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Drug Epidemic Israel-Gaza L.A. and Beyond Losses Maui Migrants Border Monterey Park People Politics Strikes Weather

Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.