The 55th Annual Chicago Pride Parade brought a huge celebration to Lake View last Sunday. This year’s theme, “Free to Be Proud,” encouraged the massive crowd to lift up the LGBTQ+ community in the face of increasing discrimination under the current presidential administration. Gov. JB Pritzker has countered that national agenda, recently signing three new bills into law that offer protections for queer people in Illinois. Sunday’s parade showed how Chicago excels as a largely inclusive space in the Midwest.
The parade included people from all walks of life and many of the 155 participating troupes made it a point to include and honor queer elders. In the midst of all the glitz and glamour, I was struck by those more seasoned faces who endured even more hostile political climates of the past. Their pride and freedom was palpable in a sense that felt well-earned and hard-fought. They moved with a self-assured joy and ease that I found magnetic. This photo captures one of those many faces.
How did you get this photo?
I walked the full 20-block route and did my best to hang toward the side to not obstruct participants or the crowd’s view. I stepped directly into the action only when I saw a uniquely expressive frame to capture. I was shooting the Macy’s troupe from the perimeter with my 70-200mm long lens when this dancer spotted my camera. He lit up and I knew that was my green light to walk directly in front of him. I quickly switched to my 28-70mm wide angle and he made direct eye contact with the lens as he continued to “flag” – a uniquely queer dance style that emerged in gay clubs in the late 1970s and 80s. I walked backwards, careful to be aware of my surroundings while cranking my shutter speed high in order to perfectly freeze his motion. The silk flags glided across my viewfinder and I tried to capture a shot that wrapped him in their iridescent rainbow of color.
Technical details:
Equipment: Canon EOS R5 with an RF 28-70mm f/2L lens
Focal length: 46mm
Aperture: f/2
Exposure: 1/5000
ISO: 250
Plus, 15 more powerful photos from Sun-Times photographers:
A recently married couple bikes down the parade route during the 55th Annual Chicago Pride Parade in Lincoln Park on the North Side.
Candace Dane Chambers/Sun-Times
Gloria at her home in Back of the Yards on Tuesday, the day the Supreme Court issued its decision upholding birthright citizenship. To Gloria, a new mom, the decision means her baby boy “won’t have to suffer. … And he’ll also have a better future.”
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
With temperatures spiking in the Chicago area, some children cooled off Tuesday by playing in the water from an open hydrant filling the street. An employee of the Department of Water Management, meawhile, is trynig to close that hydrant, near South Christiana Avenue and West 28th Street in Little Village.
Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
A man covers his head with a wet rag to stay cool near East Pershing Road and South Cottage Grove Avenue in Bronzeville on the South Side on Wednesday.
Candace Dane Chambers/Sun-Times
Pedestrians walk by a spilt slushie during an extended warm weather alert in the Loop on Tuesday.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
A pedestrian uses an umbrella to shade herself from the sun in the Loop during Tuesday’s extreme weather.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Children play under at the Crown Fountain at Millennium Park in the Loop on Monday.
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker zinged Trump and criticized the Democratic Party in a speech before Texas Democrats in Corpus Christi on June 26.
Candace Dane Chambers/Chicago Sun-Times
David Berger, co-founder of Ivy Hall pot dispensaries, walks out of the Dirksen Federal Courthouse on Wednesday.
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
Trotter Alexander stands in front of “Giving Residents Their Flowers,” a mural featuring paintings by Alexander and photos by Nathan Miller, on an Up-Top building at 13100 S. Ellis Ave. on the Far South Side on June 23.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Children enjoy sweet treats at the world’s largest Hello Kitty Cafe located at 360 N. Michigan Ave. along the Magnificent Mile on Monday.
Candace Dane Chambers/Sun-Times
Tony Award-nominee Harry Lennix at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in the Loop on June 18.
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
A sign language interpreter interprets Djo’s performance at The Chicago Theatre on June 26.
Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times
About a hundred United Auto Workers union members rally outside Woodward Inc. in suburban Niles on Tuesday.
Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times
Fireworks explode near Navy Pier during the biweekly summertime fireworks show Wednesday.
Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times
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