A sense of place

One of the subjects that came up yesterday when Corina and I visited the Saatchi Gallery was context.

What is in the background of a portrait is incredibly important. It could be a building, or a landscape. If it's an interior, what objects surround the subject. What story does it tell about them?

Then, how sharp is the background,  is it slightly out of focus so it hints at objects is it sharp and actively contributes to the composition.

"Anyroadup" (as my friend David Dunnico would say), it's my day off so the picture is taken just round the corner from me. It's a portrait of the gold building, now a local landmark and a clever piece of architecture. The building's position and cladding mean the it catches the setting sun when surrounding buildings do not (also see extra). I consciously chose a large depth of field so the foreground and the background would be in focus.