This is my highest score so far in dpc. Thanks to all voters and especially to those who made comments. Here is the story behind this photo:
It was taken at an ordinary traffic light in my hometown, Lima, Peru. Some commenters have misidentified the place as Japan! ;). Guys, in Japan cars have steering wheels in the right side!!!
It is not a perfect candid since the guy knew I was shooting his picture, but he would have been doing his act anyway, regardless of my presence.
One of the unfortunate things of the third world is the high rate of unemployment. People without jobs must make a choice on how to survive... they become taxi drivers, hand crafters, beggars, robbers, street sellers, etc, etc...and, some of those who have some kind of artistic talent, earn tips by performing 30 to 60 second shows in front of cars stopped at the traffic lights. They do all sort of acts, the kinds you would see in a circus: twirls, marionette sketches, balancing acts, clowns, even acts of magic!
In this particular traffic light I had been impressed several times by this guy who performs what he calls "the fastest upside down spinning in town" standing on his head (I mean his helmet which, of course, has a flat area on the top, barely distinguishable in the picture). He really spins fast (that is why his hands appear blurry) and his performance lasts about 30 seconds, including some spectacular bonus jumps as the one shown in this other picture:
Then he uses the rest of the red light time to collect tips from the drivers; sometimes he miscalculates the available time and ends up performing in the middle of traffic! Like in this other picture:
<-- if you thought the guy is nuts, how about this?
Last Sunday I parked nearby that corner and spent about an hour enjoying his performances during most red lights, he skips some, probably due to fatigue. I took his picture for this challenge not only because I thought this kind of street scene is representative of places like Lima, but also because it is very eye-catching for photography! (This was confirmed by the impressing 530+ views during voting).
I decided to give it an intriguing title to make it more attractive to voters, which was probably not the best choice, but what do I know.
Yes, I paid him a good tip after finishing my photo session, but you can bet he made much more from the drivers.
Thanks again
Alfredo
Statistics
Place: 56 out of 288 Avg (all users): 6.0833 Avg (commenters): 6.8125 Avg (participants): 6.0088 Avg (non-participants): 6.1508 Views since voting: 1412 Views during voting: 531 Votes: 240 Comments: 21 Favorites: 0
lol, the guy in the subaru is certainly not impressed is he. I took some shots of a guy doing this the other day but he wasn't in the actual street. Nice capture.
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