MIAMI (AP) — Rebecca Blackwell is an AP photojournalist based in Miami. Before moving to South Florida in 2021, she spent seven years working in Mexico and a decade in West Africa. She has covered multiple World Cups and Olympics for The Associated Press, as well as major news stories in the U.S. and internationally.

Why this photo

One of the most fun aspects of covering a World Cup for me is witnessing the jovial and inclusive celebrations by fans from so many different countries. With my own country being a host nation, it’s been great to see more Americans getting to join in and appreciate the unique vibe that makes the World Cup such a special experience. The Norway fans are one of the groups that have really become a sensation with their Viking row performed by dozens or hundreds of red-clad fans at once. As soon as I knew Norway was going to play in Miami, I started watching social media for any sign of a planned gathering. When an announcement popped up about two Viking rows in Miami Beach the day before Norway's quarterfinal loss Saturday to England, I knew I wanted to cover it.

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How I made this photo

I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but I knew it would likely be crowded and chaotic. I packed two cameras and a variety of prime lenses, ranging from a 14mm to a 135. The first row of the day was attended by Miami Beach officials. The crowd was dense, particularly with spectators, but I was able to climb up on a city fire truck to get wide shots of fans rowing along with the mayor.

After the afternoon row, I stuck around a few hours for the evening row, hoping it would give me a chance for different shots and maybe some nice evening light. As the time approached, the crowd got tighter and tighter without it being clear where the center would be. With hundreds of Norway fans ready to participate and hundreds of spectators crushing in around them with cellphones raised, I realized it was going to be a struggle to get a position on the ground where I could make a picture that conveyed the scale of the crowd or put them in the context of Miami Beach.

As the chanting began, I decided my other strategy was the better option, and slowly worked my way back out of the dense crowd, circling around to a building I had spotted earlier. Some fans who were staying there let me go up to the roof with them and from there I was able to shoot wide shots, showing the fans filling Ocean Drive, with palm trees and the beach behind, as well as tighter shots of them performing their chants and rows.

Why it works

This image works because of how tightly packed the crowd is, the sea of similar red shirts, and especially the moment of so many people having their arms outstretched simultaneously, pointed toward the drummer and the man with the megaphone leading the chant.

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Losing my job, a beloved family member, and a long-term relationship in a short period pushed me to finally follow my dreams and move somewhere new.

Trish Sissons

• In one week, I lost my dream tech career, a family member, and my long-term relationship.
• On a whim, I decided to move to Ireland (which I'd never visited) and pursue my sailing dreams.
• Now, I'm living out my bucket list in Dublin and can't imagine being anywhere else.

I knew from my first week in Toronto that it wasn't the place for me.

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However, it took me six years, one death, a breakup, and the loss of my dream job for me to buy a one-way ticket out of there.

It was never my intention to settle in Toronto, but when love had called, I'd answered. The partner I'd met while living in Australia had a job there. We decided we'd stay here for a few years, then move back to the country where we'd met.

Still, I had a hard time acclimatizing to the concrete sprawl, especially after living in the lush Australian landscape and growing up surrounded by the rugged natural beauty of British Columbia.

If I was going to stick this out, I realized I needed to appreciate Toronto for what it was — a commercial hub. I set my sights on the ultimate distraction: professional fulfillment.

Luckily, I'd landed a contract job I loved in tech marketing in Toronto. I found that if I focused on work, it was easy to ignore other problems and pretend I didn't miss living near the ocean.

For a while, focusing on my career helped me ignore parts of my life that weren't working

Conveniently, my job in Toronto was so interesting that I could pretend I didn't miss living near the ocean.

Trish Sissons

After several contract extensions, I was finally offered a permanent role on my dream team, but something felt off.

On one hand, I was doing work I enjoyed with people I liked and respected. On the other, the gap between my partner and me had become a chasm, and our plan to move back to Australia together felt less likely the closer it got.

I had achieved the career goal I'd spent a year hustling toward, yet I was deeply unhappy. So, I decided to spend a month in Canada's Pacific Northwest.

Surfing in Tofino, I realized I hadn't been in the water for six years. I hadn't done a lot of things I loved or taken any steps toward my lifelong dream of learning to sail.

I'd put all my personal ambitions and passions aside to be in a city I didn't like, in service of someone else's dreams, and wound up pouring myself into work as a coping mechanism.

I began to wonder, if I didn't live by the ocean, doing these things I loved so much, who was I? And if my partner decided he didn't want to leave Toronto, where would I go?

I still wasn't ready to face reality, so I returned to Toronto and focused on the thing I knew would keep me tethered: my job. I turned into an ostrich, burying my head in my work, unwilling and unsure of how to fill the void.

After a restructuring and a breakup, I finally pushed myself to a new place: Ireland

I couldn't go somewhere I'd been before and expect a different outcome.

Trish Sissons

Sometimes, when you're ignoring your intuition, the world stops nudging you and starts shoving.

I was good friends with my coworkers, so when the group chat started to buzz while I was on vacation, I took note. One by one, my former teammates were pulled into meetings to notify them of their termination due to restructuring. I felt for them, but I was also relieved I wasn't on their team anymore. I felt safe.

When my manager texted me to ask if I could hop on a quick call, I was a bit surprised but thought it was nice of him to notify me of the staffing changes while I was on vacation.

I wasn't prepared to be part of the restructuring. Or for my relationship of seven and a half years to end the day after I got back to Toronto. Or for my beloved grandma to die not long after.

Sometimes, life shoves so hard the tether snaps.

That's how I found myself lying on the air mattress in the spare bedroom of the Toronto house I'd grown to loathe, wondering where to go next.

For me, doing something new had to start with going somewhere new.

I knew I needed to be by the water again, a place with accessible hiking, surfing, and nature. And, most importantly, I had to be somewhere I could get a visa as an unemployed person over 30.

Eventually, I set my sights on Ireland, a country I'd never visited. I secured a temporary visa and booked my flight for November 8, a date I picked because it just felt lucky.

Eighteen months later, I'm living a 20-minute walk from the beach in Dublin. I have a great tech marketing job again, but without the sacrifice of living somewhere that doesn't feel like home. I have been surfing, I finally learned to sail, and I have found a vibrant community.

Somehow, with plenty of hope but little expectation, a decision I made on a whim has led to the life of my dreams. Now, I'm working on securing my next visa so I can continue to live in Dublin, where I hope to stay for a long time.

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