This week’s top photo comes from Visual Journalist Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere. Follow him on X, Bluesky and Instagram.
What makes this photo important?
The Chicago cycling community is a close, strong, robust and politically charged and active community. This was on full display Monday during a memorial rally and ride in Bridgeport for Chicago Department of Transportation employee Riley O’Neil, who died June 5 in an accident when he was biking on South Halsted Street. During the rally, people who didn’t know O’Neil but were affected by his role in creating safer biking infrastructure were brought to tears as advocates and co-workers recounted his life and legacy. The rally and ride also reopened wounds for cyclists who’ve lost friends and family members due to similar incidents. This photo shows one of the memorial ride’s biking marshals raising her hand in the air to signal an intersection to the rest of the crowd. It helps that she stands out the most with her orange pants and yellow jacket contrasting with the pale blue skyline.
How did you get the photo?
This photo is an example of working fast on a tight print deadline, being creative on demand and understanding pattern recognition. Running ahead of the group as they were setting up to ride, I found myself a block or two away with the intention of getting a general long telephoto shot of cyclists riding up the street. While shooting that, I wasn’t happy with the results and ran up another block to give it a second try. In an alley next to the street, I noticed a puddle of still water that cast a reflection. I attempted a shot with my standard 24-70mm lens and got a similar image with a bike marshal in red with his hand in the air, but I still wasn’t happy as the shot wasn’t wide enough. With only a few minutes left before I had to leave to file my work, I changed lens to my 16-35mm ultrawide, cranked the focal length as wide as possible, positioned the camera to get as much of the sky and reflection as possible — and waited. With a minute or two to spare, I was able to get a burst that included the photo of the woman above.
Technical details:
- Equipment: Nikon Z7 II
- Focal length: 16.5 mm
- Aperture: f/7.1
- Exposure: 1/400
- ISO: 640
12 more great photos from Chicago Public Media photojournalists
Malki Brown, owner of commercial landscaping firm MGE Property Solutions, stands outside Monday at 4914 S. Drexel Blvd. in Kenwood. Brown said his business has been signed for landscape work involving about three dozen vacant lots, as Woodlawn property owners pay more attention to their sites near the Obama Presidential Center.
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times