Memorial Day, Dukemajian Park

I was trying to explain to someone recently why simplified graphic iconography is SO important to good design and this is a good example. The scene in front of me was literally this (A)
But a better design is this (B)
And you can't see that unless you boil it down to the essential parts. All the "details" get in the way and must be striped off to refine the design cause without design we're just human xerox machines. Copying what's in front of us with no thought. Even Ansel Adams knew that you MAKE a photograph not TAKE a photograph.