Frozen shadows

twain1, originally uploaded by repose.

I bought this ambrotype on the street last year from someone.

It caught my eye initially because the subject resembles a very young Samuel Clemens. Upon closer examination I noticed that he sports what appears to be a policeman's shield or fraternal lodge pin. Whoever he was and whatever he's wearing, I love the rose in his cheeks and the decay that surrounds him.

Entropy will not be denied, even in the photographic afterlife...