Aumaréchal. Auguste. 44 ans, né à Chateaumeillant (Cher). Ébéniste. Association de malfaiteurs. 8/3/94. 1894

This albumen silver print of Auguste Aumaréchal, an accused criminal, was produced in 1894 by Alphonse Bertillon, a French police officer and biometrics researcher. Bertillon developed a system of identification based on physical measurements that was used by law enforcement agencies worldwide. Looking at this image, we must consider how power, identity, and representation intersect. This mugshot, with its clinical detachment, reduces Aumaréchal to a set of data points. The photograph serves less as a portrait and more as a tool for social control. Bertillon’s methods were celebrated for their scientific rigor, yet they were also deployed within a system rife with biases based on class and race. What does it mean to capture an individual’s identity through the lens of criminality? This image reflects broader anxieties about social order and deviance and invites us to reflect on the gaze of the state.