A Photo Study

An ordinary corner.  An ordinary corner we passed by so often that we didn't give it a second thought.  An ordinary corner adorned with a kitschy sign, promising a "wee nippee" at the lounge inside.  To so many of us, it was always there.

A lot can be garnered from studying photographs, good or bad.  And while this color shot from the early seventies isn't the greatest composition in the world, it still holds a lot of data, a lot of memory, and a lot of heart.  Granted, it isn't the best.  I'm no expert, but I'd have suggested the cameraman lower the lens to include the street.  Maybe back up and move to the right a bit so the sign is in clear view.  But that's quibbling.  To this amateur historian, I'd rather see a hundred photos like this than the cliched poses that graced the picture postcards of the era. 

An ordinary corner, yes.  Yet an ordinary corner that held so much history. Heck, it even had an official plaque commemorating a historical event that had happened on the spot. And despite whatever goes up in its place, whatever is designed to invigorate the downtown, to stimulate the economy, to jumpstart development, that will be the new ordinary.  In my mind's eye, this will always be there, an ordinary corner no more.