Water – Untitled #26

On the north side of the Chicago River, near the Lake Shore Drive Bridge, in the Near North Side, Streeterville, River East area, lies the Nicholas J. Melas Centennial Fountain. It features a very interesting and engaging series of waterfalls and a water cannon.

One feature, in particular, is a circular waterfall that visitors can actually “enter” and view from the inside looking out. There is a circular “roof,” above the enclosed viewing area where the water is pumped, and this water falls in about a 270-degree circular waterfall. If one is “inside,” you can look at the water cascading down, unhindered, to the structure below.

In this August 2010 picture, I am, in fact “inside” the structure with the water falling around me. I was able to use a very fast shutter speed which produced this part of the waterfall as if the motion were frozen in that moment.

It is a fascinating complex of many waterfalls in a relatively small area which treats the observer to countless angels and perspectives; a never-ending array of visual possibilities.