That plaque my father is reading in the left picture is reproduced on the right.

Over the years I have seen the thinker in many contexts. Until I saw the gates of hell it didn't occur to me the guy was just a widely used "quote" from a famous work.

On the other side of the gate was a statue of Adam, about as far from the gate as Eve is. I didn't photograph him because I didn't like the guy's look that much.

Many years ago, when the only visual art I was passionate about was reading, I read a lot of science fiction. One of my favorite books was Robert A. Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land. In that book there is a discussion between Jubal and Ben about Jubal's sculpture garden. One of the pieces they discuss there is this woman, the "caryatid who has fallen under her stone". Jubal explained that she was a comment on the ancient practice of decorating the columns that hold the roof up as female figures. The part I remember the best was that she had fallen down because her stone was too heavy, but she is still trying to lift it bravely. Even now, in this two dimensional setting, you can see that she has not given up...