Manuel is a Peruvian Street Performer. He commutes a long way from the outskirts of town to busk at traffic lights in the heart of the city. The Busking Project got a chance to see what it’s like to be a traffic light busker in Lima, and for an inside view of the life of Manuel at his home in the dusty suburbs.

You could be forgiven for thinking that what Manuel is doing is different – he’s from a very poor part of town, juggling for wealthy people in the centre of town. We carefully asked him what he’d say to people who thought he was just a beggar with some skills. He gave us the same answer as buskers in plazas across Europe, of grad school students in Central Park, of pretty much everyone.

“It’s not begging at all,” he said, “no, I reject that. I am continuing a very old tradition in my country. There have been buskers in Peru for centuries, that is all I am doing. I am an artist.”

So, there you go.

Enjoy!