Percheron. Auguste. 56 ans, né à Poitier (Nièvre). Écrivain public. Anarchiste. 21/3/94. 1894

This albumen print is part of a series of mugshots created in 1894 by Alphonse Bertillon, the French criminologist who invented the "speaking portrait." Bertillon was head of the photography department for the Paris police. His anthropometric system sought to objectively classify and identify criminals through standardized measurements and photographs like this one. Here, we see Percheron, age 56, a public writer and declared anarchist. The gaze is averted; is it defiant or defeated? The meticulous record-keeping contrasts sharply with the man's self-professed anarchy, highlighting the state's attempt to categorize and control those deemed outside the norm. This image raises questions about surveillance, power, and identity. How do systems of classification affect individual lives? What does it mean to reduce a person to a set of measurements and a label? Consider how "Percheron’s" identity as a man, a writer, an anarchist are all subsumed into a system intended to strip individuality and enforce conformity.