This image demonstrates the ability of the telephoto lens to compress multiple layers of an image into a dynamic perspective. I used a medium focal length of 264mm from a fairly close distance to integrate the incongruous detail of the bizarrely tarnished bronze figure, the spouts and droplets of water hanging in the air, the flags billowing from poles before the city’s town hall, and the façade of the town hall itself. The image throbs with energy – a bronze goddess supporting the massive platform of the fountain above her, the arching streams of water, and the waving flags in vivid primary colors, all of it flattened into a single plane.