Several years ago I was one of 40 international photographers invited to participate in a book project called, "A Day in the Life of Hollywood". Just prior to that project, I had been working for World Vision, photographing in war-torn Lebanon and children in Romania who had contracted AIDS through blood transfusions. At one point I was asked to photograph a young boy who was literally dying as we watched. He passed in and out of consciousness as he said farewell to his family, before quietly slipping away. It was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life. After a brief stop at home, I headed out again for the American project. After what I had experienced with World Vision, I found it hard to get into the Hollywood glitz and glamour, but this scene resonated with me. The great American dream represented in the background portrait gallery is in stark contrast with the foreground: a battered old classic car and the reality of a young man trying to make a living selling balloons and candy floss.