Author | Lightnews

Sophie

@sophiama.bsky.social

49 followers 100 following 32 posts

Chicago!! & Notre Dame ‘23 🥹 I like taking pics of the built and natural environments in Chicago. I love Midwest/rust belt architecture & history. Old stuff is cool. Rooting for da bears & Notre dame football, & Blackhawks hockey. leftist.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Sophie @sophiama.bsky.social · 20h

#walking around west town in #chicago w my #digicam

#photos #photography #digital #urban #midwest #autumn #architecture

the lightbulb-framed sign advertising a local corner diner (offering all-day breakfast!!) juts out from said restaurant’s intricate & well-preserved, green pastel terra cotta facade in west town, Chicago

bright red and orange fall foliage obscures the side of a brick residential building, with one of its windows visible above a telephone line

a sturdy tree still boasting considerable green leafage and vine-y branches leans in the foreground, with an ornate brick & stone building seen behind it.

1 1 8

Sophie @sophiama.bsky.social · 20h

an overcast #urban #landscape in downtown #chicago //

#digicam #photography #photos #midwest #city #skyscraper #architecture #buildings

a smattering of buildings & skyscrapers of varying heights and architectural styles/periods in Chicago’s downtown / gold coast area

an eye catching brick church topped with a central dome is seen beside some other (seemingly residential) buildings in the vicinity of streeterville/old town in Chicago

One of Chicago’s iconic corncob-es que Marina Towers rises in parallel vertically beside the Sears (/Willis) Tower & another modernistic skyscraper which shall go unnamed.

two 19th century building facades are seen in detail, close-up view. Their color schemes contrast against one another. Scaffolding is seen on the building to the right.

1 9

Sophie @sophiama.bsky.social · 6d

funky foliage and #urban tree canopy in Lincoln park & wicker park, #chicago

#photography #photos #digicam #nature #tree #architecture #building #city #nostalgia #ethereal #autumn #fall

Sunlight streaks through a variety of different tree canopies & branches along a residential street in Lincoln park, Chicago.

The branches and trunks of sturdy looking trees zig-zag and warp their way around telephone wires in Chicago. Fall foliage partially obscures a handful of brick residential buildings lining the street and dappled in sunlight behind the trees

2 8

Sophie @sophiama.bsky.social · 6d

shades of #fall on my walks in #chicago this week

#photography #photos #digital #digicam #architecture #nature #urban #city #midwest

Old brick facade with newer brick renovations peeking thru around the windows. West town, Chicago

light and shadow dapple the brick face of this residential building in Chicagos Lincoln park area, as seen through a green and red urban tree canopy

a series of rowhouses in Lincoln Park, Chicago, framed by telephone wires and a couple tree canopies.

the ornately worked, pale yellow facade of a cottage-y house in Chicago’s near northwest side, seen next to the bright autumn-colored foliage of a nearby tree

1 2 9

Sophie @sophiama.bsky.social · 11d

morally/ethically good #graffiti in west town, #chicago ( #fucktrump #fuckice )

#photography #urban #midwest

1 8

Sophie @sophiama.bsky.social · 11d

#fall views at my beloved alma mater, the university of notre dame, in #southbend #indiana last weekend (go Irish! Beat USC!!) I love #football season

#photography #photos #digicam #college #sports #notredame #midwest

Sophie @sophiama.bsky.social · 11d

#fall foliage on #chicago residential streets, via my lil old #digicam :)

#photography #photos #architecture #nature #urban #brick #midwest

The upper portion of a brick three-flat is seen in detail, partially obscured by a tree branch of bright green and yellow autumn foliage which frames the shot.

a red brick Chicago workers cottage, with a ladder propped up to allow maintenance/repairs workers (one of which is visible in silhouette) to access the roof, is seen from behind the green & yellow leaves of a tree in residential west town, Chicago

The upper portion of a reddish brick three flat, with window ornaments and a stepped roof, is seen from behind a branch of yellow-green-orange fall foliage in Chicago.

1 11

Reposted by Sophie

dmercer.bsky.social @dmercer.bsky.social · 20d

Decided to call this a wall quilt. Ford Ave. just south of Cermak Road, Chicago

Wall of a building resembling a patchwork quilt. Brick, cement block, stone, glass block, iron fire escape, two doors, a louvered vent in the glass block window and four pieces of blue tape.

1 34

Sophie @sophiama.bsky.social · 18d

Random views & details in #chicago courtesy of my old #digicam :-)

#photos #urban #bricks #river #decay #photography

photo of part of the Chicago river system in west town, Chicago. Bridge visible in the distance, and graffiti is tagged on the foregrounded concrete wall/embankment.

A cluster of bricks, rocks, and other rubble/debris lies near the edge of an otherwise overgrown & grass-covered empty lot in Chicago, as seen thru a fence. The former site of public housing high rises, since-demolished. The vacant lot is still owned by CHA.

An onion domed church is seen in the background, with a wrought iron fire escape seen adjacent and the patterned/textured elevated brick facade of another building framing the view.

a water tower is seen in Chicago, rising above a brick commercial-type building from behind. Green foliage and the upper portion of a light post are visible in the foreground edges.

Sophie @sophiama.bsky.social · 21d

couple more #digicam #photos I took this weekend in #chicago . feat. (my beloved) L; a fenced off and overgrown empty lot - still owned by CHA - which is the former site of a public housing high-rise; and some Chicago buildings + fall foliage

#photography #urban #architecture #abandoned #city

Sophie @sophiama.bsky.social · 21d

some #digicam #photos I took on walks this weekend in #chicago , my beautiful beloved city (and supposed warzone?)

#photography #urban #infrastructure #midwest #rustbelt

The skyline of Chicago is seen behind an imposing, complex geometric-looking steel tower for supporting telephone/internet wires(?)

A picturesque tree rises in the middle of an otherwise empty & abandoned grassy lot, seen from behind a fence, in the former site of public housing in Chicago.

View from beneath the L’s (elevated) tracks in Chicago on a sunny fall day, with the trackage creating a geometric pattern of light and shadows on the grassy ground below.

The sun casts shadows tracing the silhouette of an adjacent section of L trackage on the brick wall of a large building in Chicago.

3 11

Reposted by Sophie

Lake Michigan! Live! @lake-michigan.live · 21d

Current* conditions near Chicago, IL:

View of Chicago skyline from William E. Dever Crib in Lake Michigan east of North Avenue. // Image captured at: 2025-10-13 12:00:01 UTC (about 7 min. prior to this post) // Current Temp in Chicago: 56.33 F | 13.52 C // Precip: overcast clouds // Wind: S at 7.449 mph | 11.98 kph // Humidity: 84%

6 23

Reposted by Sophie

SK @sk-76.bsky.social · Sep 26

2/2

"Fanny Stout, sculptor, standing on a tenement porch in Chicago, Illinois, next to a monumental Ethiopian sculpture"

View of the rear of an apartment building with a woman next to a statue on the porch. Other apartment buildings can be seen in the distance.

2 17

Sophie @sophiama.bsky.social · 25d

here’s some random pics of #buildings I walked past in #chicago this week (including a ghost sign, one of my fav things to spot in the city!) (just casual iphone #photography this time🥴)

A light-orange-brown brick residence (a workers cottage?) with a raised porch supported by black beams is visible in the foreground, with the strange & somewhat brutalist textured facade of a taller structure in the background.

A reddish brick three flat featuring white detailing/ornaments and a verdantly ivy-coated side wall is seen from behind the shadowy canopy of a tree in Chicago.

The tops of several brick buildings seen in Chicago. I believe that’s the silhouette of a bird mid-flight in the air above said buildings.

A pale ghost sign (for “swap-o-rama”) adorns the neglected brick side wall of a structure in Chicago. seen from behind a (barbed wire?) fence. The back of a billboard is also visible at top.

1 5

Reposted by Sophie

dmercer.bsky.social @dmercer.bsky.social · Oct 4

3222 W. Washington, Chicago. Built in 1891, Patton & Fisher, architects.

Two-and-a-half story brick residence with rusticated limestone facade. The entrance and the first floor windows have arched openings. The door is boarded up. The second floor has a bay window with a balustrade to the left of it and above it. The roof is a steep gable. Vines are covering most of the top half of the building.

1 3 43

Reposted by Sophie

Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 29d

“I would like to know by what authority United States troops come in here and shoot our citizens without the slightest warning,” the mayor of Hammond, Indiana, said in 1894. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/06/22/i...

In 1894 Pullman strike, Illinois’ governor fought president’s decision to send in troops

During the Pullman Strike of 1894, the governor of Illinois decried President Grover Cleveland’s move to call in the federal troops.

www.chicagotribune.com

5 93 240

Reposted by Sophie

beautiful women updates @aoife.bsky.social · Oct 4

"One doesn't ask of one who suffers: what is your country and what is your religion? One merely says, you suffer, this is enough for me, you belong to me and I shall help you."
-Louis Pasteur

'Servant of Humanity'
Erected by the people of Chicago, 1928

a statue ft a bust of pasteur on top of on obelisk

73 250

Reposted by Sophie

Every Lot Chicago @everylotchicago.bsky.social · Oct 4

1340 North Lockwood Avenue

2 9 38

Reposted by Sophie

Every Lot Detroit @everylotdetroit.bsky.social · Oct 3

10633 DEVINE, DETROIT, MI, 48213

2 2

Sophie @sophiama.bsky.social · Oct 1

I still remember exactly where I was for this ,, “The great radinsky hold”

Sophie @sophiama.bsky.social · Oct 1

Thank you!!

Sophie @sophiama.bsky.social · Oct 1

Thank you!!

Sophie @sophiama.bsky.social · Sep 30

#photos I took on my dads old digicam of downtown Boston’s fascinating variety of structures from different #historical periods and #architecture styles - love the juxtaposition of such different buildings in close proximity
#photography #boston

several different structures are cast in sunlight and shadow, with the built up ‘steeple’ / clocktower of a lighter colored building in background

Mix of different buildings in Boston, including a more ornate hotel-style structure, an old church / meetinghouse with a steeple, and modern skyscraper with reflective glass facade at back

another jumble of different architectural styles/forms/periods, including older, ornate brick and stone structures, slightly brutalist geometric skyscrapers, and a small segment of another skyscraper that looks curiously similar to Chicago’s sears tower

Historic old church / meetinghouse structure/s seen in Boston, striped in alternating sunlight and shadow cast from skyscrapers looming behind.

3 1 25

Sophie @sophiama.bsky.social · Sep 30

some cool shots I took in downtown #boston on my #digicam last week :) (still learning!)
#architecture #photography

Three very different buildings seen in downtown Boston, with one comparatively shorter, older structure nestled between two vertically towering skyscrapers. The most distant skyscraper’s sleek glass facade reflects the faces of both structures opposite it.

Two buildings in Boston are contrasted in this detail shot, with the closer-up brick corner of the nearer structure drawing a vertical line against the more distant skyscraper’s geometric window-checkered facade

Shot of several very different structures in downtown Boston, with a squat older substation-type building in the foreground, behind which rises an historic old church/municipal structure with a white steeple, and a more modern looking, geometric skyscraper in background

3 41

Sophie @sophiama.bsky.social · Sep 30

Some cool #brick #buildings and #architecture I photographed during my trip to #Boston last week!
#photography

several brick buildings in Boston’s beacon hill neighborhood are shown in afternoon sunlight, casting interesting shadows from the fire escape.

Detail of the tops of three different, well-kept brick buildings in Boston. Each boasts a unique style of ornamentation.

A view down a narrow street along Boston’s freedom trail route, with the white steeple of a historic church/municipal structure commanding attention from behind several brick structures.

A view between several brick buildings in Boston, revealing the old contours of their surroundings in discolored brick.

1 28