May 15, Astoria's Doughboy Monument: Finding an angle

In the center of this photo is Astoria's Doughby Monument. I like the photo with its nice-looking historic houses, but there's one problem - you can barely see the doughboy. I'd decided to use this monument for the ShutterDay photomeme on my other blog, Astoria, Oregon, Daily Photo. And then I ran into the complications. You can see those below, and you can read my thoughts about the monument itself on the Astoria Daily Photo blog.

The closest I could get to making the background disappear was lying on the grass in front of the monument. Actually, it was so bright out, I didn't see the one wire or the edge of the lamp until I downloaded the picture.

Here he is in close-up.

I really like the expressive legs and feet with their vintage boots and the snarl of barbed wire - a nice touch by the artist.

This angle might have been interesting if not for the power lines. And of course, there is no longer a river view here.

Impossible. Here the doughboy looks like an urban street fighter.

Eeesh. Way too cluttered, but you can see the massive curve of the Astoria-Megler Bridge and also the access to the restroom housed in the monument. This is thoughtful. There are a few public bathrooms around town if you know where to look for them, but not a lot.

Also impossible.

Here's a photo showing the plaque. I was going to leave it large so you could read it, but I spaced out and sized it. You can read the text here on my other blog. Just scroll down.

I thought I'd include the commemorative bench. Click here for further info on the monument.

The doughboy may be one of Astoria's two free-standing public statues, but I'll keep my eye out for more.

Does your town have public sculpture?