As anyone who has traveled with me knows, I am fascinated by creatures on buildings — or, in this case, humans on buildings!
Dotted all around this green terra cotta façade are male figures that could be either friend or foe. Are they benevolently guarding the building, like sentries, or are they menacing, like gargoyles? His expression is calm, but to me the devilish beard and the chopping-block pose look like a warning to other would-be criminals. Now called the Pacific Building, it was built in 1907 as the Pacific Union Building and designed by Charles Whittlesey. Whittlesey initially worked under Louis Sullivan in Chicago — I can see that influence.
You can find it at Powell and Market in San Francisco, above Old Navy.