Share your caption ideas in the comments.
–Larger version here
(Photo © J. Maus)
“It might not inspire folks to ride, but might inspire them to advocate.”
— reaction to the photo from @ehdub on Twitter
I sat near the Broadway Bridge this morning to snap photos of bundled up bikers on one of the coldest mornings of the year. I ended up shooting the photo above because I have a thing for pictures of bikes in traffic. I turned it into our header photo and, after pointing it out on Twitter, it generated a lot of feedback
I’ve been amazed at the mix of reactions. Here are a few:
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Dan Kaufman – Kind of turns my stomach. I’d change it in a couple days.
@territory – come on, you can do better with the pho pic on the header. Inspire us.
Kyrstin Westwind: “I love that BikePortland reflects the fall variety of experiences we have as cyclists: it ain’t always pretty!”
Tony Tapay: “Reminds me of the iconic image of the man in China facing down the tanks.”
@joebikepdx – Reality is we do need bravery to change a dangerous world. The photo’s an example. and To me it’s inspiring in that it shows simple, unnoticed bravery. I wonder what the driver of the white pickup is thinking….
@AnneHawley – I’m new to bike commuting & find photo inspiring not scary: if those guys can do it, I can do it! Possibly I’m just odd…
@philkinjerksi – I think it is good to inspire but also keep the perspective grounded. Things can’t always be rosy
@dkaempff – I think it’s a useful photo for achieving that purpose. Nothing wrong with showing where we need to improve, bsides the good.
@ehdub – It might not inspire folks to ride, but might inspire them to advocate.
@VeloBusDriver – Yikes! Bad spot to ride in if you can avoid it – Many commercial vehicles have a blind spot in that area
I’m enjoying this feedback, because it gets to the heart of one of the issues I’ve been mulling lately about BikePortland’s role in the community. That is: How can we best use criticism and the truth to push the conversation forward, without becoming too negative and/or scaring people away? How is the mission of “To inform and inspire” best served?
In addition to hearing your feedback on the photo, how about a caption contest? Several folks suggested this and it might be fun. So here goes: We’ll pick the best caption and the winner can have a crack at a Front Page editorial on any bike-related topic they choose (we reserve the right to edit the piece for clarity if necessary) and/or a set of BikePortland postcards and stickers.