I was thinking about context in terms of text the other day and how important time and place are to understanding a story. I had my little camera in hand when I had this thought, so that got me to thinking about context in relation to images. Specifically, I thought about cropping out the junk that interferes with my idealized view of the view, what I want it to be. That's when I took this picture in Hartford on Sunday:


I wanted the Bushnell's golden dome without the other stuff, but the other stuff wasn't going anywhere on my account, so here is the Bushnell in the age of (gasp) electric street lights and electric traffic signals.

I decided I liked all this flattening out of all the reality that fit in my viewfinder into one pleasant experience because the truth was, I enjoyed the whole scene, not the tower with contemporary reality brushed out. Thinking of how thing are where they are got to be a bit of fun for me. For example, here is Hartford's overzealous crossing guard with his sword unsheathed and the horse ready to go. 




From July 22, 2012
But no. That's the Marquis deLafayette, who has probably been there longer than the intersection. His purpose is not to direct pedestrian traffic but to be Lafayette in the middle of the road. Because important people don't move; we move around them. He did, after all, play a key role in securing French support for our revolution and for bringing an end to that necessary war
From July 22, 2012. 
Nevertheless, in the context of context of contemporary urban life, poor old Lafayette seems to be riding a carousel horse with that street light running through the horse's rump.

 It is what it is because of the way we see. What we see seems so very often to be in question.