Well (presuming it is a knife of some sort) I have a feeling the DOF would not have been to shallow if it was turned the other way and the tip was in focus. When it is positioned this way, it took me quite some while to understand what precisely the subject was.
I second that. Neat concept, and it could make a nice series if this had a deeper DOF, preceeded by one with the tip pointing at the lens with a shallow DOF, and finally a photo of the knife folded closed. Just a thought.
Being a knife person, I knew right away what it was. I also rather like the interpretation; it's not often that you see this arrangement. It bears further consideration.