Agenten van de veiligheidsdienst van Parijs before 1890

This page, titled 'Agents of the Security Service of Paris,' is from an anonymous book, likely made with a printing press. The page illustrates how early photography infiltrated print media, serving here as an instrument of social documentation. Photography's ability to capture a likeness democratized portraiture, making it accessible beyond the elite. The black and white images were captured through the controlled chemistry of silver halide crystals on glass plate negatives, and reproduced en masse through the mechanically-driven machinery of print production. The image shows agents from different ranks. Uniforms play a crucial role; standardized clothing that visually represents power and authority and reflects the industrialized nature of mass production in the 19th century. The book itself, assembled from paper pulp, printed with ink, and bound together, is a product of industrial labor and global trade. It is an artifact that reflects the social order and its visual representation.