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I came upon this scene in Latvia when Tricia and I were exploring in the fascinating capital city of Riga. We’d headed for the main centre and were taking in the full glory of this very beautiful city, diving into churches, gazing at superb architecture and as always peering into side streets and alleyways looking for things of interest. It was in just such a side street that I noticed this young and highly talented cellist take up his spot outside a budget hotel and begin to entertain the passers-by with a range of bewitching melodies. As often happens, an admiring crowd gathered and I had to wait for an opportunity to take a shot. Luckily, a large organised tourist group suddenly moved away, led by their female guide holding aloft a folded umbrella and with a clip-board held under her other arm. The tour group shepherdess headed into the adjoining square, her sheep followed dutifully and suddenly the photographic opportunity was on. As I shaped to take the shot, the youngster looked up so there was momentary yet spontaneous eye contact, but not a flicker of a smile – such was his intense concentration. It was not until I checked the shot that I realised I had captured another image as well, for reflected in the window to the right there was the slightly distorted reflection of a woman on a bicycle!
The boy continued playing and another large group stopped, so we made a strategic withdrawal. As luck would have it, about an hour later we were heading towards a magnificent baroque church and outside sat the same young cellist, filling the airways with his beautiful music. He recognised us and with a cheeky grin, held out his hand as we approached. We were more than happy to donate a few coins as the opportunity to do so before was upstaged by the arrival of the second tour group. We spent quite some time in the church and expected to see the young maestro again as we left, but he’d disappeared, no doubt having in mind a larger audience somewhere else.
Tags: Street photography
Photo journalism
Woman
Travel
Boy
Reflection
Candid
People
Riga
Latvia
Black and white
Cyclist
Cellist
Cello
Portraits and people
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