A few moments before I made this image, these were costumed cartoon characters that happily glided and danced among the tourists thronging Times Square, creating a festive mood, and ultimately requesting tips for such services. Eventually all good things must come to an end. The party has ended, and now reality rules. In this mage, we can see that those happy masks have been replaced by life as it is -- these people are paid to work , and work is not always fun. I converted the color image to black and white in order to remove as much festivity as possible, and allow us to focus on what lies beneath those masks.