Green River, a photo from Illinois, Midwest

Photographer's Note

The greening of Chicago River, St. Patrick's Day, 2005, Michigan Ave. bridge, downtown Chicago.

The dyeing of the Chicago River green is a 50-year-old tradition (this year) held annually on St. Patrick's Day celebration, usually witnessed by hundreds of people (as you can see in the picture). This year, there was a lovely twist in the greening of the river. The City of Chicago put up the honor of tossing the green dye to the river for auction on eBay (as part of its "Great Chicago Fire Sale" fundraising effort)! A local bank won the honor for $7,600 (forgot the exact name of the bank).

Chicago's sale is unique because the money is being directed back to specific city programs, and the city is not only contributing some of the items but also encouraging residents to donate items for sale. roceeds from the "Great Chicago Fire Sale" (a reference to the city's worst calamity, 1871) will benefit some of the city's cultural programs, which are increasingly strained by a reduced budget. The items that bidders vied for included an architectural drawing of the Millennium Park band shell, the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, signed by Frank Gehry, who designed it; an original 1960's Playboy Bunny outfit (one fetched $14,340 last year at Christie's); a painting by Ed Paschke; dinner and hotel packages; and pieces of Chicago memorabilia, including an original Chicago Theater sign and an official resolution, passed in 1997, absolving Mrs. O'Leary's cow from starting the fire of 1871.

soulie, gsgeorge, quantabeh, Leonie, jjbach, luigi_pirex, eladen, greghume1, fcuk81, pamastro, bscheller, svetoslav, rajhema, leiju, MLINES has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

quantabeh (5205) 2005-03-13 20:00

Interesting informative shot, Ken!
I didn't know about this and it sure is interesting. Good POV and contrast to capture this event. Good notes too.
cheers,
Behrang

jjbach (9322) 2005-03-13 20:05

Excellent colors and lighting. Very sharp and clear shot. Your notes are very interesting

Regards John

luigi_pirex (73) 2005-03-13 20:12

Hello Ken!
This is a really interesting photo! It's very well composed, giving us the wide dimensions of the show. But first rate are the colors of the river, so well saturated and pretty. Sharpness is on the spot and the exposure seem excelent. All in all, a very efficient, informative and atractive shot! Great job!
Luís

eladen (239) 2005-03-13 20:30

i love the colors in this shot!
lovely picture!

greghume1 (447) 2005-03-13 21:18

Excellent documentation of this unusual custom. Composition includes the boat and swath of green river as well as the crowds observing it. Informative note completes it well.

danielswalsh (13591) 2005-03-13 21:26

Great shot Ken;

I really like this shot! A shot of an interesting event, it's a nice break from mundane sunsets, and flowers, and clouds etc. which we get inundated with on a daily basis.
Nicely captured with the people watching over the even, and the surreal looking green in the river, and an informative note to compliment it.

Well done,
- Dan

Leonie (8809) 2005-03-14 4:48

Hello! Cool photo...have heard about this many times! Here in Dublin they don't even die the river green for Saint Patrick's... :-) But double amount of Guinness is probably drunk... ;-)

Slainte! Léonie

fcuk81 (141) 2005-03-14 14:38

I'd heard about the 'greening' but never actually seen it. Great note aswell. Thanks.

pamastro (7218) 2005-03-15 0:26

It seems more green than images I have seen of it in the past, or at least the last couple years. I was surprised how strong it was when I first saw it on the news. And you've captured it here. The boat is in a strong position as it turns around spreading the dye and making it seem like a cloak descending from the boat. The crowd is a great addition and the point of view captures one of the things I really like about Chicago, the river and the skywcrapers and walkways rising around it.

svetoslav (318) 2006-03-12 16:04

Very interesting. I had no idea that this is a 50 year old tradition and honestly I had no idea that this tradition even exist. I find the picture informative!!!
Thank's for sharing!!!

MLINES (12516) 2006-06-14 17:46

Hi Ken, Good to see the Irish traditions underway in this capture. Very unusual to see such a thing. Your timing was good to get the boat on that angle, and all the onlookers. Very good. Murray.