Toesca. Calixte. 28 ans, Tour de Breuil (Alpes-Mar.). Étudiant en médecine. Association de malfaiteurs. 27/2/94 1894

This is Alphonse Bertillon's 'Toesca. Calixte. 28 ans', a mugshot mounted on card from 1894. The sepia tone and subdued lighting immediately set a somber mood. Toesca's gaze is direct, almost confrontational, challenging the formality usually associated with portraiture. The composition is structured to reveal, but also to classify. Bertillon was a pioneer in employing photography for criminal identification. Here, Toesca becomes an index of a system. This use of form, combined with the stark detail of the card, underscores the power dynamics inherent in surveillance and categorization. It's not just a photograph; it's a statement about how society constructs and perceives identity. The very act of framing, cropping, and labeling, reduces an individual to a set of data points. Consider how Bertillon uses the photographic medium not merely to capture an image, but to enforce an emerging logic of control in late 19th-century France. It’s a chilling, but fascinating interplay of art, science, and power.