foreground

[ fawr-ground, fohr- ]

/ ˈfɔrˌgraʊnd, ˈfoʊr- /

the ground or parts situated, or represented as situated, in the front; the portion of a scene nearest to the viewer (opposed to background).

a prominent or important position; forefront.

Origin of foreground

First recorded in 1685–95; fore- + ground¹

Dan worked hard and made a good picture: mountains, timber, blue sky…and in the foreground a blond girl and a unicorn.

The Ballad of Johnny France |Richard Ben Cramer |January 12, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Ladder 118 looks small on the Brooklyn Bridge; in the foreground both towers billow soot.

With the Fireman of Brooklyn’s Company 224 as They Observe the Fallen |Maurice Emerson Decaul |September 12, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
So of course, we start swimming toward it because I wanted the underwater camera guy to shoot me in the foreground of this shark.

Off the Hook: Eric Young’s Craziest Shark Catches (Video) |Anna Klassen |August 5, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
It never was until I started performing live myself that I had to be in the foreground.

Burt Bacharach: How I Write |Noah Charney |May 15, 2013 |DAILY BEAST

Foreground figures in “Street” are wildly out of focus, which is normally a feature that we only see in still photographs.

New York on Quaaludes |Blake Gopnik |April 23, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
All that eventful day our story began with had leaped into the foreground of his mind.

Somehow Good |William de Morgan
Was it not the sensuous side of her nature that had been touched, while the rest had been posing in the foreground?

The Daughters of Danaus |Mona Caird
In the foreground a wooden shanty, a broom by the door with a ramshorn hanging from its handle.

The Road to Damascus |August Strindberg
But there was a wicked gleam in the eye of the footsore young man in the foreground.

Last of the Great Scouts |Helen Cody Wetmore
The thickness of outline on the light side of this vase unfinishes the foreground.

Dickens and His Illustrators |Frederic G. Kitton

foreground

/ (ˈfɔːˌɡraʊnd) /

the part of a scene situated towards the front or nearest to the viewer

the area of space in a perspective picture, depicted as nearest the viewer

a conspicuous or active position

(tr) to emphasize (an issue, idea, or word)