Photos of the day: Eyes of history

By Tom Williams

Posted March 1, 2021 at 11:33am

Senior staff photographer Tom Williams took home four awards during the White House News Photographers Association’s 2021 Eyes of History photo contest over the weekend.

Williams, who joined CQ Roll Call in 2000, placed third in the Jan. 6 category for his image of House members taking cover inside the chamber during the attack on the Capitol.

“Protesters are banging on the door of the House chamber. So you’re hearing all these loud bangs,” Williams said of the moments leading up to the photo he captured of Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado consoling Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania. “As tense as the situation was, I don’t want to minimize it, I was really thinking technically — just trying to compose a clean photo.”

**Third place in the “January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol” category:** Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., comforts Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa., as rioters attempt to break into the House chamber during the joint session of Congress to certify the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6. (CQ Roll Call/Tom Williams)

Williams also placed third in the Capitol Hill category for his pre-pandemic image of Vice President Kamala Harris, then a senator from California, arriving at the Senate during the first impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump.

**Third place in the “On Capitol Hill” category:** Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., arrives at the Senate carriage entrance of the Capitol before the continuation of Trump’s impeachment trial on Jan. 29, 2020. (CQ Roll Call/Tom Williams)

Finally, Williams received two awards for his coverage of the celebrations in Washington following the presidential election race call for President Joe Biden and Harris.