This week’s top photo comes from visual journalist Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere. Follow him on X, Bluesky and Instagram.
What makes this photo important?
Weather photography has always been a passion for me, and for the last year, I’ve been doing my best to help Sun-Times environment reporter Brett Chase to get art for his series of flooding stories. This photo encapsulates a lot of what he’s been writing about, particularly how flooding has disproportionately affected some communities, and how, despite the city’s best efforts to enhance infrastructure, the problem persists.
How did you get this photo?
On July 4, I was assigned to monitor police scanner channels with freelance reporter Kyra Senese. While listening to Zone 8, I heard reports of Chicago police requesting a tow for a vehicle in an alley off 75th Street and Emerald Avenue that they suspected was used in a recent double homicide. Rain was making the holiday weekend a very soggy one, and much of the crime and mayhem I was assigned to watch out for wasn’t happening, so we took the opportunity to get some photos and maybe some color for a future follow-up story.
While nearing the the vehicle, I noticed that the block before 75th and Emerald, 76th Street and Union Avenue, was absolutely flooded, and made a mental note of that. After getting my photos and whatever notes we could from the vehicle scene, we made our way back up to the flooded street to try to get some photos and interviews for our weather story.
We saw Jason Wells and his family with shovels and pry bars, trying to figure out where the sewer grates were so they could unclog them. We approached and began speaking with Wells, who was more than happy to answer my questions about what he was doing.
During the interview he was unable to find and clear the sewer from the side of the street, so he resigned himself to getting wet in the flooded street, reaching his hand almost up to his elbow looking for the sewer grate — awhile still answering our questions. I got down to his level as he struggled and got the camera as low as I could without damaging it to capture the frame above.
We stayed with him a little longer, learning about his history of flooding struggles on the street he grew up on, how he takes it upon himself to clear his current street instead of trusting calls to 311, and how the city had just redone the sewers with the promise that something like this wouldn’t happen again. Before we left, Wells and his family realized their efforts were in vain: The sewer grates were clear. Water hadn’t been blocked from going down. It had been coming up from the sewers.
Technical details:
- Equipment: Nikon Z7 II with 24-70mm F/2.8 Lens
- Focal length: 24.5mm
- Aperture: f/4
- Exposure: 1/320
- ISO: 800
Plus, 14 more powerful photos from Sun-Times photographers:
Tonia Branche and Deze Scott spent the Fourth of July at the Obama Presidential Center. “It’s amazing to be able to celebrate that on the 250th anniversary of our country,” Branche said. “But we’re seeing a lot of things dismantled that a lot of people built up. I think it’s a reminder of how far we’ve come, but also a little bit of a wake-up call of how far we still have to go.”
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Janet Stallard and Susan Hopkins attend “People’s Fourth” at the Obama Presidential Center. “Every time I turn on the television, I’ve just been so disheartened and angry about what the current administration is doing,” said Hopkins, who made a Facebook post recruiting others to come along. “I thought, what better place to go on the Fourth of July to talk about democracy and how we want our country to run. This just felt like the right place to be on this day.”
Jeremy Battle/Sun-Times
U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Andrew Boutros speaks during a July 2 news conference at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse to discuss the results of Operation New Dawn. On Thursday, a federal magistrate judge admonished Boutros, saying that he failed to honor her order sealing a criminal complaint charging three alleged Tren de Aragua gang members.
Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
Campers kayak in Burnham Harbor on Tuesday during Adventure Club, the Chicago Park District’s Special Recreation program at Northerly Island. The program brings children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to the island for a day of fishing, kayaking and archery.
Candace Dane Chambers/Sun-Times