In the fall of 1868 at a friend’s request Nietzsche, who was in the army, had a photograph made of himself in uniform. It turned out to be unflattering, a judgment he himself implicitly rendered when he tried to explain what had gone wrong. It showed him, he admitted, in a somewhat aggressive posture, accosting his audience rudely with drawn saber and with “an irritable and unpleasant” expression on his face. “But why does the miserable photographer annoy us … ? Why must we always be ready with our sword? And when we’re about to rush precipitously upon [him], what does he do? He ducks under his mantle and shouts, ‘Freeze!’”