This week’s top photo comes from Assistant Photo Editor and Visual Journalist Pat Nabong. Follow her on Instagram.
What makes this photo important?
Black Friday isn’t what it used to be, at least from a photographer’s point of view.
I’ve been covering Black Friday since I started at the Sun-Times in 2020. It’s become somewhat of a tradition of mine. And every year, it’s the same story of sparse shoppers on the street, speculating about why there aren’t as many people as they expected: in 2020, COVID; in the years after, online shopping; and this year people at Magnificent Mile and other big box stores blamed the economy, deals that aren’t steals, the weather (which was freezing that morning) and immigration enforcement fears. Gone are the days of people fighting over televisions.
This image is a sign of the times. The light shining on a single shopper and the shadows in the barely decorated storefront allude to a “bleak Friday,” as our print headline described it.
How I got this picture
I noticed harsh light shining on that spot on the street and positioned myself right in front of the window. I knew I needed a human figure to make the photo more interesting and to illustrate the story, so I waited for a pedestrian carrying a shopping bag to walk into the frame.
Technical details:
- Equipment: Sony A7IV
- Focal length: 24mm
- Aperture: f/9.0
- Exposure: 1/500
- ISO: 250
15 more great photos from Sun-Times photojournalists:
Cole Sheridan stands outside on the West Side on Nov. 21. Sheridan’s assault case was dismissed after being accused of pushing and taking a swing at U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino during a protest in early October outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, .
Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
Dozens of people hold candles during a vigil on Wednesday to commemorate the 56th anniversary of the death of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark. Participants were outside the house at 2337 W. Monroe St, where the two men were assassinated. Survivors of the raid attended the event, which included a dedication ceremony for a plaque that’s part of the Black Panther Heritage Trail.
Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times