on the fiddle

I'm a violinist so I've chosen to comment on this image.  But first I'd like to say that I found you via a comment you made on 'Rocks' by Alexandria Fomicheva on Sept. 9, 2010.  Your comment was direct, but very tactfully stated, and I saw that you've been a member for 9 yrs., so I decided to check out your work.  Although at this time I don't have time to go through your work, I'm sure I must have commented on something of yours in the past.  Not sure.  At any rate, you have a great body of work, and I'll come back to check it out more thoroughly later.  I just wanted to say that it's nice to have members who can be polite and direct at the same time....wish there were more who could give constructive criticism.  :-)

As for this image, I'm struck at how oblivious the passer-by is to the street musician.  Great timing on your part.   From the way this guy is holding his violin, it appears that he can play pretty well.  It reminds me of the psychological experiment done by Josh Bell, one of the world's greatest violinists.  He put on jeans and a baseball cap, and stood in the subways of New York City, posing as a street musician.  Nobody paid him any attention, although he can command top prices in the concert hall.  It was fascinating. 

Here are some links to the video and publicity around the event:   (if you’re interested)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/04/06/DI2007040601228.html

http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/bell.asp

I'll be back for another visit soon!  :-)