I made several portraits of this woman singing in a subway station. I don’t remember her actual performance, but that’s not the important part. I have great respect for people willing to put themselves out there in public.

There is a famous quote by Theodore Roosevelt. The key passage says:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again…

who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.

— Theodore Roosevelt, “Citizenship in a Republic,” 1910

Whenever I photograph a street performance, I usually leave a buck or two for the person. Not only am I enjoying their efforts, but I feel a certain obligation when photographing them.

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