The Waitress Project:One Photographer's View

When I first saw this photo project, I was wowed. Somebody has captured it - the true essence of a waitress.

I grew up in restaurants, and now I am growing old in restaurants. I have been around waitresses my whole life. Waitresses are the glue that hold restaurants together. In many places, that will extend to their communities.

Service is not something that comes easy. In my career, I spent a few months waiting on tables. I quickly found out I could not do it. The one job in the place I am not capable. In fact it is something very few people can do. It takes a lot conscientiousness, humility, being able to handle the pressure, read a person, and dish out just the right amount of attitude. They are a breed in themselves.

I won't kid you... there are some that do it just to get by. These are not people Mr. Salzano is shooting. His subjects are the servers that love what they do. You can tell who they are. Some of them will never admit it, and others will flat out tell you they could not get by without serving. Over the years, I have had the pleasure of working with many of them.

James Salzano is a career photographer working for celebrities and Fortune 500 companies. He started this project by accident inspired by a waitress, June, he met in a Cincinnati coffee shop over 20 years ago. He has been working on this since meeting June, having photographed waitresses all over the United States and 23 countries. Click on the links to see and read a little more about this project and how and why "Waitresses" was put together. His book is due out soon.

• Read the blog post describing the project.
• View the photos from James Salzano.