The Age of Bunny Ears

My younger son, Matt, can barely hold still for a picture.  He'd rather run, jump, skip, roll, climb, etc.

On occasion, I bribe or threaten him to stand next to his brother for a brief photo op.  This is what I get:

Bunny ears.

It seems to be his pose of choice and they are not limited to photos involving his brother.  Or, for that matter, animate objects.

I conducted a little research to determine the origin of the photographic "bunny ear" and for once the Internet disappointed me.  There was no definitive answer.  Some conjectured the gesture had been around for centuries and derived from the devil horn sign.  Others conjectured it was a 20th century prank developed once photographs became common and taken by amateurs.

In Matt's mind, it originated with his father.

I suppose I should be thankful.  There are worse gestures he could be making in my photographs.  And the occasional bunny ears is not really that disruptive to the image I'm trying to capture. Not, for example, as disruptive as this: