This interesting scene straddles State and Church Streets in Warren, Rhode Island. I find the overarching contrast to be an extremely interesting study in human nature. The cannon in the foreground is a monument dedicated to those soldiers from Warren that fought in the various wars since the founding of the nation. Now, the monument is interesting in and of itself, since the upturned cannon is traditionally a symbol of the Civil War, not just any war. Initially, though, that's precisely what this monument symbolized. It was dedicated in 1908 as a civil war monument. I'm not sure when the plaque was added to encompass all wars.
It's the beautiful church in the background that makes the scene for me. That is the First United Methodist Church, erected in 1845. I find the placement of a symbol for war in front of such a towering symbol for peace to be quite fascinating. The monument is in the town Common, and as is typical of an old New England town, a prominent church overlooks the Common. In 1909, though, this war memorial took center stage. That is certainly fitting given the human cost of the Civil War, but it also presaged the violence to quickly follow in the First and Second World Wars. As I said, this setting is an interesting study in human nature.
Post processing started out with a medium grunge filter in Topaz Adjust. The usual sliders (adaptive exposure, brightness, contrast, strength, detail boost, and sharpening) were adjusted. A Levels adjustment was added in PSE.
