In 1890 this statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee was placed on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia. The first Confederate monument there, it was the last one standing in late 2020 as its fate was argued in court. Kris Graves’s photos show the statue covered in graffiti and lit with a projection of George Floyd. It’s a powerful symbol of the racial reckoning under way.

We consider our cover image one of 2020’s best photos—and we made a change to it that I want to acknowledge. Through our standard image toning processes, we de-emphasized 10 instances of the f-word that were visible in the photograph. It’s an extremely rare step for us to take, but it honors our policy not to print that word in stories or display it in photographs.

We believe that prominently sharing the photo is more important than de-emphasizing a certain swear word; the toning does not diminish its message or impact. Meanwhile, the statue’s graffiti continued to change after photographer and artist Graves captured it last June, on his first assignment for National Geographic. In a year we gladly put behind us, Graves made an image that will endure. —Susan Goldberg

National Geographic Magazine