The Custom House was set up near the wharves in Salem (not much of a surprise here) as the the trading ships from all over the world, but especially the Far East would land their goods in Salem. The customs duties collected at this site were apparently the single largest source of revenue for the young USA.
My aim for this shot (taken with the Nikkor f/3.5 24mm PC-E lens) was to get a straight on view, so the sides of the building did not show at all; i.e. a very two-dimensional view of the building. The converging lines of the two side streets meet somewhere behind the building. The building is built on a hill , with the right side slightly higher than the left side of the shot.
The inspiration for the framing is a principle known as Orthopgraphic Projection, where engineering (and architectural) drawings show a face on 2-D view (as well as a top and side view; not something I attempted here).
The chimneys and some of the columns show where the engineering world and optical world do not align perfectly...