We asked photographer Jordan Gale to record the inauguration and he captured images of a country gripped by anxiety
A presidency like no other ended in an inauguration like no other. The twin forces of Covid-19 and domestic terrorism bent the event – and its host city – out of shape. There were no cheering crowds on the Mall and this was no “shining city on a hill”. Instead Washington DC was wrapped in perimeter fencing, road barricades and security checkpoints. Meanwhile 20,000 troops from the national guard patrolled a Capitol that had been sacked two weeks earlier by insurrectionists wishing to overturn the election result. We asked the photographer Jordan Gale to record this extraordinary inauguration – he has been in the city since Saturday – and he captured these sombre images that reflect a city, and country, in the grip of terror and anxiety. – John Mulholland