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Photo Galleries

2023 through the lens of Star-Advertiser photographers

These images from 2023, chosen by the Star-Advertiser’s photographers, reflect our community and its perseverance through hardships, including the devastating Maui wildfires.

Craig T. Kojima

By Jamm Aquino, Craig T. Kojima, Cindy Ellen Russell and George F. Lee

Dec. 30, 2023

Editors' PicksHawaii Photos

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GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM

On previous pleasure trips to the West Side of Maui, I have seen a cross with a message being carried by a bicyclist and thought it is was an unusual way of getting the word out. Taken eight days after the Maui wildfires devastated Lahaina, the cross carried on a bike serves as a chilling symbol of the disaster against the backdrop of the burned-out town.
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CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM

A public memorial is held at ‘Iolani Palace in January for Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawananakoa, the Campbell estate heiress with royal lineage. She died on Dec. 11, 2022, at the age of 96. Kawananakoa’s wife, Veronica Gail Kawananakoa, above center, stands besides her casket in the palace’s Throne Room where the heiress lies in state. Members of the Hawaiian Royal Society Hale O Na Ali‘i, of which Abigail Kawananakoa was a member, stand on either side of her casket.
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CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM

Three-year-old Drew Miyasato helps rake the Mililani High School baseball diamond after an April game against the Campbell Sabers. Drew was working the field with his grandfather Kyle Miyasato.
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JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM

Every time I am assigned to the annual Shinnyo-En lantern floating ceremony at Ala Moana Beach Park on Memorial Day, I push myself to see something different. Amid the crowds, I found this image to be almost perfect with no one else but the subject and hundreds of lanterns illuminating the sea at sunset. Mariel Kaulupali gazes out after floating a lantern in honor of her husband’s grandfather.
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JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM

The Lahainaluna High School Lunas’ first football game since the deadly Aug. 8 wildfires was one of the most important football games I’ve ever had to photograph. The emotion coming from every person in that stadium was overwhelming. No matter how hurt the human spirit is, healing is done together — as a community. Lahainaluna quarterback Ty Bronco-Gomes cries while singing the school alma mater after the September game.
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CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM

Ernest Lau, Board of Water Supply manager and chief engineer, holds a “Shut Down Red Hill” mug after a November press conference, which outlined the agency’s $1.2 billion claim against the Navy.
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GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM

This was one of the most unusual news assignments I had received in years: The removal of an intact military jet from Kaneohe Bay; the jet had overshot the runway. Given other incidents involving the military in Hawaii, such as the Red Hill water contamination, the Navy and Marines have made efforts at being transparent as they dealt with another potential environmental disaster. After being in the bay for about 10 days, crews begin the removal of the jet in early December.
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CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM

I’ve met many local and out-of-town volunteers on my assignments. From the biggest island to the smallest, these individuals have answered the call to serve those that have suffered misfortune and loss. The Salvation Army’s Major Osei Stewart, top row left, and Major Lynn Stewart, top row third from right, pose with more than 50 volunteers before they helped to distribute over 500 Thanksgiving meals in November at The Salvation Army Kroc Center Hawaii in Kapolei.

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