Morel. Benoit. 33 ans, né le 6/11/61 à St Laurent d'Orringt (Rhône). Ébéniste. Anarchiste. 8/3/94. 1894

This is a mugshot, made in France on March 8th, 1894, by Alphonse Bertillon. It’s a photographic print on card, part of a series of portraits of people arrested by the Paris police. Bertillon was a pioneer of forensic photography, and his images are as much social documents as they are examples of early photographic techniques. They reveal how the institutions of law and order sought to categorize and control individuals at a time of immense social upheaval. Look at how the subject, Morel Benoit, is presented: his face is clearly visible, and the photograph is accompanied by detailed personal information, including his age, place of birth, profession and, most strikingly, his political affiliation: anarchist. The image creates meaning through this stark combination of visual and textual information. To understand it better, we can consult police archives, historical records of anarchist movements, and studies of the development of forensic science. These resources help us understand art as something contingent on social and institutional context.