PHOTOS: 2021 Photos of the Year - John Spink

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PHOTOS: 2021 Photos of the Year - John Spink

Friends and family members reacted to the news after an Atlanta mother was shot to death Tuesday morning, Aug. 24, 2021, during a domestic argument at a southeast Atlanta apartment complex. (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com)

Looking for rainbows on a rainy day - First-year Georgia Tech masters student, Hamid Nazemi, 23, from Houston, Texas ascends the steps of the Klaus Advanced Computing Building in the rain on Thursday, Sept. 16, 2021. (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com)

A fire on the roof of what authorities are calling a vacant commercial building temporarily closed a southwest Atlanta road Wednesday morning, Sept. 15, 2021, as firefighters battled the flames. (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com)

In the kind of calamity only possible in metro Atlanta traffic, two trucks carrying loads of lumber and candles collided on I-285 and burst into flames Thursday morning, Oct. 21, 2021. The matchstick made in heaven is also making a huge problem for fire crews in south Fulton County, who have shut down the entire I-285 Outer Loop to battle the blaze and clean up the wreck. (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com)

A super moon hovered over Promenade II (left) and One Atlantic Center (right) in midtown Atlanta on Wednesday, May 26, 2021, as the beginning of the first total lunar eclipse since January 2019 appeared Wednesday over North Georgia. The lunar eclipse became visible in the sky about 5:44 a.m. and peaked at 6:34 a.m., just before sunrise. (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com)

Several businesses in a northeast Atlanta strip mall were damaged Friday morning, June 4, 2021, when a sports car fleeing the Georgia State Patrol crashed into a building and burst into flames. The driver of the Porsche Cayenne was arrested and taken to a hospital following the crash along Piedmont Road near Cheshire Bridge Road, according to the State Patrol. (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com)

Atlanta police were called to southeast Atlanta’s Sweet Auburn neighborhood following a double shooting Friday, May 28, 2021. (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com)

Dottie Simonton (left) and her daughter Gracie Gresham walk down LaGrange Street in Newnan to return to her damaged home in the daylight. Deadly storms that rolled through North Georgia late Thursday into Friday, March 26, 202, left a path of destruction.. (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com)

Umbrellas popped along Moreland Avenue near the Vortex in Little Five Points on Monday, May 3, 2021. (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com)

A Brookhaven apartment building was already empty Friday morning, March 5, 2021, when a massive fire broke out, sending smoke and flames shooting through the roof. Hours earlier, authorities evacuated the same building at the MAA Brookhaven complex off Caldwell Road when a smaller fire started on the ground floor just before midnight. (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com)

With Memorial Day coming up fast Teddy Weber was out in front of it Monday, May 24, 2021, trimming grass at Marietta National Cemetery. The cemetery spans 23.3 acres and has 18,742 interments. (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com)

A man is dead and another man is in custody after a SWAT situation at a Clayton County home Wednesday morning, May 19, 2021, officials said. Police arrested the suspect at a home on Redland Drive near Jonesboro shortly before 10 a.m., authorities confirmed. The victim's body was located in the yard of the home prior to the SWAT incident, according to police. (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com)

A driver is in critical condition after a crash that closed part of an interstate in DeKalb County during Monday’s morning commute. on March 8, 2021. Photos from an Atlanta Journal-Constitution photographer at the scene show part of a white vehicle wrapped around a tree on the side of the road, while remnants of the mangled car are strewn about. . (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com)

Atlanta firefighter, Chris Barber hits hotspots after two adults and their pets were fortunate to escape a fire from their Southeast Atlanta home on Friday, Feb. 26, 2021, after a neighbor broke a window to wake them up. (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com)

A crane teetering outside a 31-story office tower in Midtown is in danger of falling and could take up to two days to secure, fire officials said on Friday, Feb. 19, 2021. Several nearby businesses and apartment buildings were evacuated Friday morning as Atlanta fire crews worked to stabilize the leaning crane outside the high-rise building. (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com)

Marietta Firefighter, Blaine Whealy of Truck 52 looks for hotspots as he towered above the burned apartment units of the Park on Windy Hill on Tuesday after a massive fire there. Authorities in Cobb County are working to help 50 people who were displaced by a massive fire at a Marietta apartment complex on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021. (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com)

Amrit Bhavinani got emotional as he came to the 715 mark on the wall at the old Atlanta Fulton County stadium where Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s homerun record after learning about Aaron's death on Friday, Jan. 22, 2021. Bringing poinsettias, Bhavinani said Aaron was his hero and has his motto above his bed a home “Just keep swinging.” Baseball’s all-time home run king died Friday at the age of 86. (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com)

Wearing a full turnout firefighting gear, some 200 metro Atlanta area firefighters honored the 343 firefighters and paramedics, and 72 law enforcement officers who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001 by ascending Stone Mountain on Friday, September 10, 2021. The City of Fayetteville Fire Department who sponsors the annual event for the one-mile climb that is equivalent to 160 flights of stairs has seen the event grow every year that also includes police and military participants. Numerous events are scheduled Saturday around the metro area to observe the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com)

Onlookers overlook the road that was washed away at Fawn Place at East Lake Parkway in Marietta on Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2021, after torrential downpours of rain overnight brought flooding and damage to the Cobb County area. Residents and emergency officials in Cobb County worked throughout the day, Wednesday to clean up after intense storms and heavy downpours resulted in flash floods overnight. (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com)

January 2, 2020 Gwinnett County : A chaotic scene unfolded in the parking lot of a Gwinnett County QuikTrip on Thursday morning, Jan. 2, 2020 after a tractor-trailer slammed into multiple vehicles and overturned near the gas pumps. The truck was traveling west on Jimmy Carter Boulevard shortly after 7 a.m. when it struck at least two cars that were stopped at a red light at the Brook Hollow Parkway intersection, according to the Georgia State Patrol. The collision sent the tractor-trailer and at least one other vehicle into the parking lot of the gas station, Gwinnett fire spokesman Donald Strother said. Ten vehicles were damaged, and crews that responded to the scene had to free one person from the wreckage, authorities said. That person was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. At the time of the crash, the tractor-trailer was hauling nine rolls of paper weighing about 5,500 pounds each, Strother said. The incident caused major delays in Norcross for drivers heading to work through the area, according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center. Firetrucks and police cars stopped traffic as crews worked to clear the vehicles and remove the debris. They got the big rig in an upright position about 11:15 a.m. JOHN SPINK/JSPINK@AJC.COM

April 30, 2021 Clayton County: Clayton County deputies fist-bumped before jointly searching the abandoned apartments at 5271 West Fayetteville Road with Fulton County deputies. Authorities again descended on College Park to search for a wanted man April 30, 2021, hours after an Arizona murder suspect was recaptured at the end of a 16-hour manhunt. (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com)

April 16, 2021, DeKalb County: Mariah Peterson-3 looks at Mom, Breonna Clark, as their neighbor’s building burns. A raging fire at a Tucker condominium complex Friday morning, April 16, 2021 trapped a resident on a second-floor balcony. (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com)

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Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC

Friends and family members reacted to the news after an Atlanta mother was shot to death Tuesday morning, Aug. 24, 2021, during a domestic argument at a southeast Atlanta apartment complex. (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com)

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