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This: http://www.ebay.com/itm/MEMENTO-MORI...item1c32ead1c5
There's obviously something "off" about this photo, no matter how you interpret it. The pose of the soldier, even for standing portraits assisted by head-braces, seems a little stilted, and the camera angle seems unusual, too, with a slight tilt. Even when you correct the horizontal plane of the camera, the subject still appears to be listing to the side as if he were a continuous vertical column. Now, according to the research, the soldier pictured died while home on furlough — that would mean he likely wouldn't have arms and equipment with him. The items he has seem to be a little too neatly and properly worn to be photographer's props, though; they actually look like "his," and can point to this actually being a last-minute portrait done before his regiment's departure. However, the position of his arms and hands doesn't seem natural. The left hand is in a severe deviation and exaggeration of the position of the soldier, the arm fully extended with no hint of natural ease at the elbow, and the right hand position is wrong for ordered arms, as though it was placed to keep the weapon from pitching forward. Even though he's "dressed up" with shoulder scales, the gloves are a little unusual and may purposefully be hiding discoloration. The eyes don't tell me much—sometimes they just look like that—but his face looks as though there's nothing really supporting his jaw, and his chin has sort of sunken down to make his face appear rounder than you would expect from someone of his physique. The puffiness of the cheeks is suspect, too.
Again, we've seen too many misidentified post-mortems and other gems on this particular auction site, but this one may have something going for it.
There's obviously something "off" about this photo, no matter how you interpret it. The pose of the soldier, even for standing portraits assisted by head-braces, seems a little stilted, and the camera angle seems unusual, too, with a slight tilt. Even when you correct the horizontal plane of the camera, the subject still appears to be listing to the side as if he were a continuous vertical column. Now, according to the research, the soldier pictured died while home on furlough — that would mean he likely wouldn't have arms and equipment with him. The items he has seem to be a little too neatly and properly worn to be photographer's props, though; they actually look like "his," and can point to this actually being a last-minute portrait done before his regiment's departure. However, the position of his arms and hands doesn't seem natural. The left hand is in a severe deviation and exaggeration of the position of the soldier, the arm fully extended with no hint of natural ease at the elbow, and the right hand position is wrong for ordered arms, as though it was placed to keep the weapon from pitching forward. Even though he's "dressed up" with shoulder scales, the gloves are a little unusual and may purposefully be hiding discoloration. The eyes don't tell me much—sometimes they just look like that—but his face looks as though there's nothing really supporting his jaw, and his chin has sort of sunken down to make his face appear rounder than you would expect from someone of his physique. The puffiness of the cheeks is suspect, too.
Again, we've seen too many misidentified post-mortems and other gems on this particular auction site, but this one may have something going for it.
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