I once believed that crowds were more or less unified; at first glance it seems that way. After all, people have gathered in the same place at the same time for the same reason, presumably to enjoy the same event. Then I began taking photographs in the midst of human assemblies, studying the images afterward while editing, and my mind began to change. Above a military drum corps performs with great skill on a street before a crowd on the sidewalk. The main subject of this image — the leader of the detachment directing their rhythms — caught my attention with his stylish movements; however it is clear the spectators had other preoccupations. The tall man on the extreme right is looking critically at someone else in the crowd; two people in the background seem to look directly into my camera lens, and not at the drummers who surround me out of the frame. The big bald man on the left is snapping a picture of a woman who might be his wife, while yet another woman (behind him) talks on a telephone. The little girl at bottom left in the sparkly green hat and beads looks bewildered. We cannot tell what is confusing her, because she is looking down the sidewalk at an unknown distraction, and is paying no attention to the performance in the street.