Fauvel. Louis. 27 ans, né le 14/4/67 à Écouché (Orne). Tourneur. Anarchiste. 2/7/94. 1894

Editor: Here we have Alphonse Bertillon’s 1894 photograph of Fauvel Louis. It feels like such an intimate and yet detached portrait. What stories do you think this image whispers to us? Curator: Well, darling, first, I think it screams ‘Nineteenth Century France’! Look at it: the meticulous almost sterile nature of it speaks to the birth of forensic science. It's not just a portrait; it's a document, a fragment of someone's life meticulously captured for the archives. Do you get a sense of that impersonal detachment, how objective they were trying to be? Editor: Definitely. It’s like the humanity's been bleached out of it, replaced by data. An anarchist, it says? That’s a heavy word. Curator: Indeed! It places him squarely in a moment of immense political upheaval. Can you feel that simmering discontent just under the surface of his… shall we say… ‘interesting’ mustache? Each little detail, it becomes a symbol of this tense historical narrative. Photography as social control. I find it…chillingly beautiful, no? Editor: Chilling is right. I’d never really thought of portraiture that way, as this means of trying to contain and categorise people. It gives the image this extra weight. It becomes almost voyeuristic too. Curator: Exactly! And now you’re beginning to touch on the uncomfortable truths of this new world, aren’t you? And wasn’t that the goal, all along? Editor: It is definitely something to ponder… Thanks for shedding light on that!