The background, even though it's blurry, is distracting. And the statue looks a little underexposed. Perhaps a CPF, or HDR could help with the exposure levels. That, and exposing correctly.
I would recompose it, framing it tighter. The dog is draped in the Stars & Stripes, and there is an American flag in the background. Therein lies the statement in this photo. The international flags just add noise.
Tedski
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside a dog, it's too dark to read."-- G. Marx
I would go into Photoshop, add some brightness, then use the Pen Tool and outline the statue. Click 'Select' at the top and go to 'Invert' and then go to Filter and choose the Guassian Blur under the 'Blur' section. That way, you put more focus on the front, but that's only a suggestion. Heck, you could also use the Sponge Tool and de-saturate the background a little so that the colors in the front stand out a little more
You've got a LITTLE more than "just a statue" because of the flags in the back tying into the one in the dog. That has some interest there. The framing isn't great as there's a lot of dead space but I'm not sure there's a way to fix that. You'd have to move around somehow to make it work better (re-shoot).
No offense to shadow, but I would NOT do that Gaussian blur thing. The focus is "fine" as it is. It just needs a little compositional work.
Yes, that's true... but given a recent discussion on this topic, some folks seem to feel strongly that there is value in this. (though I did like some of terri's shots... and, of course, I've always loved my own angel pictures) But yes... in the end... this is a picture of someone else's work. SOME interpretation... but still...
I agree with others on the flags in the background and getting more detail into the statue itself. Perhaps a little more of the base. However, I like it. I always enjoy seeing any memorial like this, particularly with MWD content. I appreciate the post, it touched me.