Hatchet Job

For the Vintage Photos Theme Park, a photo of troublemakers and misfits (that guy always was a troublemaker: photo featuring a misfit—someone set apart from the rest of the people by dress, action, expression, etc.).

A jolly bunch of men and women are posing under a tree—and on a tree house or platform attached to the tree—for what turned out to be an overexposed photo that then faded over time.

After I scanned the photo and adjusted its contrast, I was able to spot some interesting details, like the beaming smiles on some of the women's faces and the bow ties and striped shirts worn by a few of the men. One fellow at upper right is smoking a pipe and holding the legs of a guy who's sitting on the railing above him.

And then there's the dude who's smack dab in the middle of the group (see a cropped version for a close-up view). He's puffing on a cigarette and seems to be lunging toward a man in the front row. Judging by the blur of the hatchet he's holding in his raised hand, the man in front received a blow to the head just after the photographer snapped the photo.

Or at least that seems to be what this troublemaker wanted us to believe. Notice, too, how the young woman to the left of the hatchet wielder is grinning. It's hard to tell if she's in on the joke or is actually oblivious to the impending hatchet chop.



P.S. For another rabble-rouser caught on film, see Aieeeeee!!!