Powerful image, Tim, made all the more powerful in our current economic environment. There was a time when people painted murals and played basketball in this area. Now it is overrun with weeds, empty, desolate and deserted. The hoop and the mural remain as statements of what once was. How many towns today, devastated by unemployment and economic demise, can relate to this scene? Sadly, I see this as a commentary on broken promises, betrayal, and empty dreams.
Phil said it best. A picture in a picture of a time lost, then more recently departed time. I wonder what will be added for the future here? Think positively. This town may one day become revitalized and re-invented.
What an amazing photograph, Tim. You layer it brilliantly to speak of man's fragile pleasures and ultimate destiny -- the barren foreground, the tilted basket stanchion, the incongruously fertile mural painted on a grim concrete wall, topped by dead vegetation on a field of darkness, convey together our broken dreams and eventual departure. Someone once tried to bring life and vitality to this grim place, but nature still prevails. It could just as well have been titled "The Last Basket."
