Malpet. Jeanne (femme Pivier). 51 ans, née en mai 42. Couturière. Anarchiste. 3/7/94. 1894

This photograph was made in 1894 by Alphonse Bertillon, using the wet collodion process – a relatively new method at the time. But Bertillon wasn't interested in art; he was the chief of criminal identification for the Paris police. The process involved coating a glass plate with chemicals, exposing it in the camera while still wet, and then developing it immediately. You can almost smell the darkroom from here. The final print is a sepia-toned record – matter-of-fact and unvarnished. Notice the subject, Jeanne Malpet, identified as a seamstress and an anarchist. She stares directly at the camera, her expression unreadable. The stark lighting and plain background remove any possibility of romanticism. In fact, the mugshot is overlaid with the fingerprints on the right, and the police inventory number right across her chest. Bertillon's method became standard practice, and these photos were instruments of state power. Yet in their very banality, they testify to the lives of ordinary people. It is a reminder that even the most functional objects carry social meaning, challenging our ideas of both art and criminality.