River Street at the Rush Street Bridge
by Mark Hersch
$283
In late August 2022, I set out to create a new Time After Time piece. And what a piece it turned out to be! The source image below, shot in 1915, depicts a bottleneck of cars and horse-drawn vehicles at the intersection of River Street and the Rush Street Bridge. Neither River Street nor the Rush Street Bridge exist today. The Rush Street Bridge was demolished after the completion of the Michigan Avenue Bridge in 1920, and River Street (along with parallel South Water Street) was replaced by Upper and Lower Wacker Drive in 1926. As I was preparing for my shoot, the U.S. Navy Blue Angels were flying all around the city in preparation for that weekend's Chicago Air & Water Show. I knew I had a once in a lifetime opportunity, so when I had everything aligned for the shot, I waited for just the right moment to try and capture the Angels flying through the scene. BAM! Talk about a juxtaposition of old and new! If all that isn't wild enough, look closely near the lower left corner of Goodrich Boats sign and you will spot a much smaller sign promoting daily excursions on the S.S. Eastland, the white ship that can be seen on the far left of the image.