Thank you for so many wonderful submissions! I loved the variety of live performance, street musicians, practicing, and static poses. Great stuff... very difficult to pare it down to a final list of reasonable length.
Honorable Mentions, in no particular order:
Love the focus and detachment of Markus' well captured pianist:
The simplicity of luxun54's photo seems to really fit the performer:
Lots of sass in Marisa's capture of these saxy street performers:
High praise for this moment well presented by Jola. I think I'm going to second-guess not ranking this higher:
Love the lighting, setting, and expressiveness of this accomplished cardboard box musician caught in the act by Ken. Perhaps the cover of his first CD?
Really enjoy stevemaz's portrait of a most ambitious street musician -- can picture him lugging a full bass on mass transit to get to his favorite spot:
Two great B&W photos by Peter that I really enjoy. One for its nontraditional "from behind" perspective, and the other for its tremendous dark and hazy mood.
Third Place:
Walter wins the "feel good" award for this whimsical quartet that can't help but make you smile:
Second Place:
Paul delivers pure exuberance in another example of music's ability to steer a group's mood down the right path:
First Place:
Punctuated by lousy weather, Vijay very effectively captures the solitude of present day big city street performance. I am especially impressed that the performer's mood doesn't appear to be dampened. The spirit of music lives on.