the audience

An audience is a group of people who participate in an experience or encounter a work of art, theatre, music or academics in any medium. Audience members participate in different ways in different kinds of art; some events invite overt audience participation and other allow only modest clapping and criticism and reception. (straight from wikipedia)

I am somehow fascinated by the audience, their faces, movements, and sheer span of attention amazes me. What are they thinking, what are they looking at, what makes them, show after show, show their support with nothing more than their time, a monetary exchange, and some show of appreciation to the performer?

Probably my weakest area of capturing images, is people, although it is not for lack of genuine curiosity of humanity in general. I have recently thought that my insecurities lie in the fact that I most often try to take pictures of people that don't necessarily want their pictures taken. I never ask, or I very rarely ask, because I find that when I ask, the faces change, and they are no longer good to me. So, I usually walk that line of creating an extremely awkward situation, that I have to admit, I kind of enjoy. These are taken from a couple of different nights here in Lubbock at live shows, of the audience, trying to figure out just what they are about.