Under the belly of The Bean

From the river, we then walked toward the parade in Grant Park. We thought that we would shoot just a few frames and then go around the loop. But, even before reaching Randolph, we saw a mass of people stuck on lower Columbus Drive. We decided to just bail out.

Since I had to go to the Chicago Photography Collective Gallery in the loop, I proceeded to and continue with the original plan. But … when I reached Monroe St., there was no way for me to find a good place to take photos … so I also bailed out and proceeded to to to the Bean instead.

I knew that there would be a lot of people there but I didn’t realize how bad it was. Last year, it was utter chaos because the South Side Parade was canceled – so the South Side parade attendees came to downtown to party. This year, the South Side Parade was revived, so I thought the South Side parade attendees would no longer come to the downtown celebrations.

I was wrong. The Bean was teeming with people. It was like a rave in there. The park even instituted some kind of regulation – they inspected bags and confiscated bottles with liquids in them. But kids have their own devices .

I had fun shooting though. The crowd under the bean made a very surreal reflection. The crowd inside were screaming and chanting, USA, USA, USA … you can hear them outside, but under the Bean, it was like an echo chamber under there.

Have a look!