Zes portretten van zakkenrollers before 1886

Here is a page from an unbound book, which contains six portraits of pickpockets, made with black ink on paper by an anonymous artist. The portraits are rigidly organized into a grid, each headshot uniform in its framing, creating an almost unsettling effect. These aren't images of individuals but rather function as types— specimens in a quasi-scientific study. The sameness of the images neutralizes any sense of the subject’s individuality, reducing each to a set of identifiable traits. The use of monochrome further flattens the image, denying any depth or nuance that color might afford. The formal austerity speaks to a desire to categorize and control, reflecting the historical context in which surveillance and the criminal justice system sought to visually codify difference. As a formal object, this page unsettles our assumptions about the representation of identity, inviting us to consider the power dynamics inherent in how we look, classify, and judge.