2008 Top One Hundred Countdown # 2: Cabinet Card---Family Group Portrait (Hombres Problematicos Numero Veintiuno) [Moved-Up So Flickrites Can Give It More Love]

Apologies in advance for the watermarks. I do really believe that on the open market, this may be the most valuable photograph I own, though I only paid in the low three-figures for it (on Ebay). I was very surprised that it didn't go higher. I love the rifle pointed at the little girl's head (an illusion, but still); I love the cat that moved, I love the one-eyed wispy bearded guy with the stogie. I imagine that these folks were playing a role on the day this photograph was made, and that they were well-aware of that role, but I also would guess that it was a role they were comfortable playing, having had lots of practice. The only thing that is missing is the patriarch of the clan. I've seen people like this. I've had an old man with a knife as big as that one come up to me and say, "You see this knife? You see how sharp this knife is? You could kill a man with a knife like that." ( On that occasion, having watched enough hog-butchering for one day, I got in my car and left.)

Done