Now that you reveal the gender, everything changes. I see a woman, not a man. She seems benevolent and kind, certainly not a mercenary killer, which was soldiers were, at least up until the American Revolution in the 1770s. And the parallels of innocence with the Arbus shot below become even more pronounced for me. Thanks for extending the expressiveness of this image for us, Jude.
Thanks Phil ... what made this shot a little more appealing to me is the fact that this soldier is actually a woman. So the chances of her having actually been a French soldier in Lower Canada in the 1700's are zero, making this even more incongruent.
A wonderfully incongruous portrait, Jude. This soldier is so pleased with himself in the innocent role of a historical soldier. Yet he carries a gun at his side, a device intended to blow a hole in another human being. In a way, it reminds me of Diane Arbus' famous portrait of an innocent looking war-lover:
