Photographer Christopher Briscoe

My feet were blistered and aching after two weeks of nonstop walking through the French Quarter.

It was the last day of my stay in New Orleans. Salvador Giardina was on my long list of interesting characters to photograph for my book project. A street musician known as the Bob Dylan Girl told me, “One night I was on my bike headed home. My light was out. I got hit. I was okay, but my mandolin broke in half. Sal fixed it for a really good price.”

I’d been wanting to meet Sal for a long time, so I dialed his number, half expecting to be put off and told to call back another time. Instead, Sal said, “Come by any time. I go to lunch between noon and one o’clock.”