“He makes it his business to … distill the eternal from the transitory,” writes one of the great poets and art critics of nineteenth-century Paris, Charles Baudelaire, describing the goal of a true artist of modernity. A painting is more than a mere snapshot. A snapshot may be accurate in details, yet it lacks meaning. A painting, though, portrays thought and feeling. Each stroke of the brush adds an emotion, every shape communicating a thought.

This photo is akin to the paintings of old, in that each aspect relays a message. The towering buildings looming in the distance represent the bustling of life. A watcher looks yonder, serious expression on his face. Dare he brave the world, filled with challenges and hardships, yet teeming with opportunity? Or does he lower his gaze to the dark waters, despairing of success, looking to end it all with one fell swoop? Society refuses to let him give up, barring the way with a fence that screams, “keep trying!” Ultimately, though, the decision is his.