Leboucher. Edouard, Léon. 43 ans, né à Paris XIVe. Cordonnier. Anarchiste. 7/3/94. 1894

This albumen print was made in 1894 by Alphonse Bertillon, and it depicts a man named Edouard Leboucher. The photograph is mounted on card, and titled with the subject’s name, age, occupation, and political affiliation: a Parisian shoemaker and an anarchist. As a technique, albumen printing demanded rigorous labor. The process required coating paper with albumen from egg whites, then sensitizing it with silver nitrate before exposure. The resulting image, a sepia-toned portrait, is haunting in its directness, evidencing the “uselessness” of Leboucher’s stance in the eyes of the state. Bertillon was a pioneer of forensic photography, using the medium to reinforce social control. The photograph’s materiality - its reliance on industrial chemistry, and the bureaucratic method behind its creation - speaks volumes about the power structures at play, and the effort to repress labor movements and radical politics at the time. By understanding the making and context, we appreciate the image not just as a historical document, but as a potent artifact of power.