Jacot. Charles, Émile. 36 ans, né à Allenjoie (Doubs). Colporteur Anarchiste. 8/3/94. 1894

Editor: So, this is a daguerreotype from 1894. The Metropolitan Museum of Art calls it "Jacot. Charles, Émile. 36 ans, né à Allenjoie (Doubs). Colporteur Anarchiste. 8/3/94." by Alphonse Bertillon. I'm struck by how raw it feels; it's less a portrait and more…an indictment, almost. What strikes you about it? Curator: Raw, yes, a perfect word for it. Indictment too, but maybe more of a quiet lament. The subject, Jacot Charles, has this…world-weariness in his eyes, despite being only 36. Knowing this image was likely taken as part of a criminal identification system—Bertillon was a pioneer in that field—adds a whole other layer. Does the clinical approach, the detachment, change how you perceive the subject's vulnerability? Editor: Absolutely. Knowing it’s essentially a mugshot changes everything. It feels voyeuristic to be scrutinizing him this way, divorced from any real context, reducing him to…data. I’m both fascinated and uncomfortable. Curator: Isn't it fascinating how a photograph intended to be purely objective ends up being so loaded with subjectivity? We bring our own biases, our own humanity, to reading Jacot Charles' face. Maybe the 'anarchiste' label tints our vision of him a certain way, conjuring images of turmoil when perhaps he was a peaceful dissenter, a thoughtful rebel… It prompts one to wonder: whose story gets told, and how, and by whom? Editor: It's almost unbearable – the layers of interpretation. I came in expecting to just see a portrait, and now I feel the weight of history and so many unspoken narratives bearing down on me. Curator: Precisely! Art isn’t always about aesthetic beauty; sometimes, it’s about discomfort, questioning, and facing the difficult stories etched into our past and reflected in the faces of individuals like Jacot Charles.