Billy The Kid

[poliphilo]

The only existing photograph of Billy the Kid just sold for $2.3 million. Way over estimate. Well of course it did!  The auctioneers needn't be so surprised. It may only be a battered tin-type, but it's the single most iconic picture to have come down to us from the Old West. Billy is wearing a top hat on the back of his head- and is grinning at the camera- something 19th century sitters hardly ever do. Never was there a jauntier pose. This is what it looks like to be young and free and not to give a damn.

Comments

[veronikos.livejournal.com]

He confirms one of my adages: Never trust a man with a weak chin.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

You're right of course.

But it's a very big jaw.