Schaffer. Charles. 28 ans, né à Paris Xle. Ébéniste. Association de malfaiteurs. 2/3/94 1894

Curator: Let's take a look at "Schaffer. Charles. 28 ans, né à Paris Xle. Ébéniste. Association de malfaiteurs. 2/3/94," a gelatin silver print created by Alphonse Bertillon in 1894. Editor: Oh, that’s… intense. He's staring right through you. The eyes have a surprising amount of life. Curator: It's one of Bertillon's mugshots, part of his effort to standardize criminal identification in France. These weren’t taken as art but as instruments of a system. Editor: Mugshots, huh? I see that. The guy's name and other data scrawled below his chest. He's almost elegantly dressed! Like, he’s dressed better than I do most days! There's this forced formal quality about him, but under that facade is the real man, staring with intensity! I feel kind of sad, imagining his side of things, if he did actually commit whatever crime. Curator: Precisely. Bertillon’s system, Bertillonage, aimed to remove subjective interpretation. Each photo was paired with precise body measurements. A new approach in terms of police procedure. Editor: Well, that human element refuses to be erased, doesn’t it? The floral waistcoat, the hastily knotted tie... there's a vulnerability fighting its way through that rigid framing. It's a clash between institutional control and individuality, the official versus the deeply personal. Curator: The picture was a tool for creating a new archive of deviants. The subject is defined by criminality first. Even with our awareness, his humanity pushes back. We consider it art. It’s a cultural artifact regardless. Editor: And now, here we are, generations later, staring into this fellow’s eyes! Is he looking at us or beyond us, or just dead inside? It almost makes you consider, are mugshots portraits? Curator: Absolutely! What started as administrative control gets repurposed through social history. What we have before us at The Met makes one reflect on our fascination with marginal figures—people who, through misfortune, circumstance, or intention, find themselves on the margins. Editor: It’s really incredible when something initially intended as data starts radiating emotion! This "Schaffer. Charles", transcends the numbers and the method for some very different stories and contexts than its original intention.