Photo Gallery: Daily Herald’s best photos of 2025
Posted December 24, 2025 5:00 am
Elgin Police Officer Edwin Alva shows how low he can go, much to the delight of Celia Lopez, right, during National Night Out festivities in Elgin. The Elgin Police Department hosted eight such celebrations around the city.
Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
Members of the Stevenson High School Family perform a dragon dance during the Buffalo Grove Park District’s Lunar New Year celebration at the Community Arts Center on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025 in Buffalo Grove.
Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
Emergency lights reflect off water sprayed by firefighters on the scene of an apartment fire on Nichols Rd., just south of Lake Cook Rd. in Long Grove on Tuesday night, Feb. 4, 2025.
John Starks
Pallbearers carry the casket from the church during the funeral for Chicago Bears owner Virginia McCaskey at St. Emily Catholic Church on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025 in Mount Prospect.
Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
Janelle Konieczski of McHenry and the Chilly Dogs group heads back to shore during the Purple Plunge into Lake Zurich at Breezewald Park on Saturday, March 1, 2025.
Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
Hundreds gathered on the curb on Ogden Ave. in front of a Tesla dealership to demonstrate, led by Reid McCullum using a blowhorn on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. He is the Chairman of the Democratic Party of DuPage County.
John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
The car believed to belong to an Elgin woman who has been missing since 1983 is pulled from the Fox River.
Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
Margot Juster, 5, greets the Easter Bunny during Breakfast with the Bunny at Langendorf Park on Saturday, April 12, 2025 in Barrington.
Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
With her cell phone resting on nearby pedestal, Wiktoria Kierat, right, takes a video clip while dancing alongside Karen Rejent prior to the start of the Lake Zurich High School graduation on Sunday, May 18, 2025 in Lake Zurich.
Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
People get a close up view of the Great Wave off Kanagawa which is a woodblock print by Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai, created in late 1831 during the Edo period of Japanese history during a preview of the “Hokusai and Ukiyo-e: The Floating World” exhibition Wednesday, May 28, 2025 at the McAninch Arts Center on the campus of the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn.
Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
Jose Hernandez of Elgin and his son Ezra, 3, attempt to dodge an cloud of bubbles as they walk in the Elgin Pride Parade Saturday, June 7, 2025 in Elgin.
Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
Deb Robertson holds her dog Nellie Wednesday, June 4, 2025 at her home in Lombard. Robertson has a rare form of cancer and supports medical aid in dying.
Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
Cristina Colunga of Elgin works on her section of a collaborative mural in East Dundee.
Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
Umbrella Sky Elmhurst is back for its second session of 2025 in downtown Elmhurst. It includes three installations, headlined by the Schiller Court umbrellas.
Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
Abbi Rago of Lombard dressed as Glenda from Wicked heads to meet fans during FAN EXPO Chicago 2025 Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025 at at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont.
Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
A plane is seen leaving O'Hare International Airport silhouetted against a pastel colored sunset and the moon rising Friday, Sept. 5, 2025 in Palatine.
Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
Dan Benway sits in a wheelchair as he watches his daughter Grace marry Thomas Decourcey in the butterfly garden at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights on Sept. 18, 2025. The couple moved their wedding from Colorado so her father could attend. He is being treated for pancreatic cancer.
John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
A guest makes his way through a scene depicting ancient Egypt during a media preview ahead a grand opening event of EXP, a 26,000-square-foot virtual-reality venue in The Pearl District in Rosemont, on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. EXP will launch with two large-scale immersive expeditions: Horizon of Khufu and Life Chronicles.
Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
Resident Joanne Moore nuzzles a doll during a “doll therapy” session at Indigo Senior Living, a memory care facility, on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025 in Elmhurst.
Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
Tomee Phetsisouk, hugs his daughters Taya and Teagan as they see their new home in Naperville for the first time. The family received the mortgage-free from nonprofit organizations Building Homes for Heroes and PulteGroup's Built to Honor program. Phetsisouk was a U.S. Army Staff Sergeant who did two tours of duty in Iraq and was injured when his vehicle was struck by an IED, resulting in severe head trauma, back and neck injuries and shrapnel wounds throughout his body.
Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
Tom Holbrook is moving his massive collection of Bozo related memorabilia to a space in downtown Elgin he’s dubbed The Bozeum. Not only is Holbrook one of the world’s most prolific collectors of Bozo memorabilia and history, he’s also portrayed him at events and trade shows as seen in the head shot he’s holding.
Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
Andy Yarc harvests soybeans in one of his fields near North Chicago on Thurday, Oct. 2, 2025.
John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
A field of soybeans is ready for harvest in Elgin. A Chinese boycott of American soybeans in retaliation for U.S. tariffs is being felt even in the suburbs.
Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
In the arms of Schaumburg firefighter Joey Fruscione, Savanah Boscardin of Schaumburg smiles as her mom Kelly shakes the foam out of her hair during a party for Savanah’s ninth birthday. Two years after first meeting during a medical emergency, members of the fire department came by to help her celebrate.
Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker gives two thumbs up while trying a sensory egg chair during a tour of the new building of the Philip J. Rock Center & School in Glen Ellyn on Monday, Nov. 3, 2025. Gov. Pritzker helped officials with thier ribbon cutting ceremony at the school for its deaf and blind residents.
Paul Valade/pvalade@dailyherald.com
After being the main attraction for weeks, a few pumpkins, one with a visible look of concern, are piled on top of a garbage can destined for the landfill along Main Street near downtown Glen Ellyn.
Paul Valade/pvalade@dailyherald.com
A small maple turns orange and mimics the shape of the Inverness Village Hall building.
John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
A severe geomagnetic storm made the northern lights visible in Elgin Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025.
Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
The Northern Lights are visible over a pond near Barrington Rd. and Higgins Rd. in Hoffman Estates on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025.
John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
Crews work on a water tower painting project on Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025 in West Dundee, Ill. The words Spring Hill Mall were removed from the tank as the nearby mall is being demolished to make way for future development.
Paul Valade
Kids from a summer camp enjoy the drop slides on Thursday, July 17, 2025 at the Wheeling Park District's Family Aquatic Center in Wheeling, Ill. The park district is hoping to approve a multi-million dollar update to the center and will most likely close down and replace the drop slides.
Paul Valade
High winds on Friday, May 16, 2025 left Hoffman Estates High School, Ill. seniors clinging to their caps and robes as they headed into the Now Arena in Hoffman Estates for their commencement ceremony. From left Prachi Soni, Prableen Kaur and Maazinah Khan didn't let the wind stop them from smiling and having fun in the moment as they headed to graduate with their peers.
Paul Valade
Parent Linda Prestia, left, of Carpentersville, Ill. joined around 60 others Monday, Sept. 15, 2025 at the Community Unit School District 300 central office in Algonquin, Ill. demanding the board president Nancy Zettler resigns following her "karma" comments related to the death of activist Charlie Kirk. The school board voted to remove her from the board president position.
Paul Valade
A total lunar eclipse turned the moon red early Friday morning March 14, 2025. As viewed from Crystal Lake, Ill., the full eclipse occured when the the moon, Earth and sun align. This sequence of the “blood moon” starts at 12:13 a.m. and ends at 2:15 a.m. on March 14.
Paul Valade