Statues, sculpture and fountains provoke additional cliché photographs. And I’ve certainly shot my share of them over the years. To break free from such cliché approaches, I try to bring meaning to such pictures by expressing the symbolic nature of the statue or sculpture. In this case, I held off shooting this sculpture until mid-day, when the high sun brings strong, high-key contrast in light, as well as deep texture to the stone face. This light would be very bad for human portraits, but it is wonderful for textured stone subjects such as this one. When I felt the light on the subject was strong enough, I moved close to the sculpture to fill the frame and confront the viewer with the intensity of both the lighting contrasts and the powerful texture. I was very careful to frame the subject within the softly focused dark archway in the background, which gives the picture a sense of depth. The result: instead of a static overall image of the statue, which sits in the middle of small fountain, I’ve made an image that demands the attention of the viewer. Its gaze seems relaxed, yet viewed at this intimate distance in such defining light, this face becomes an eternal and enigmatic symbol of survival.