Buster Bloody Keaton

[Toad]

I've never seen this photograph before and I bloody LOVE it! First of all, is that a Parsonian profile or what? But what I REALLY love is how he's effortlessly traversing the boundary between masculine and feminine. Which is somewhat underscored for me by the black and white ensemble. He does it with such an admirable lack of self-consciousness too. He's totally unafraid to appear graceful and delicate.

Yes I suppose there's a comical effect being aimed for here, the contemplative gaze upon his daisied hand and the juxtaposition of the gauzy shawl with the stolid boots upon his feet. But it's a beautifully composed frame in its own right and the gender-muddling seems a bit ahead of its time.