Lenfant. Émile, Jules. 26 ans, né à Choisy-le-Roi (Seine). Modeleur. Anarchiste. 2/3/94. 1894

This photograph of Émile Jules Lenfant was made in Paris by Alphonse Bertillon, the inventor of forensic photography. In late 19th-century France, anarchism became a powerful force. It was the sworn enemy of state power. Bertillon developed photographic methods of identifying and tracking suspected radicals like Lenfant. He saw photography as a tool for social control. The mugshot as an art form raises ethical questions. What are the politics of imagery? Is photography an objective record or a tool of state power? Historians use police archives, newspapers, and other period documents to understand the social context of works like this. It is a reminder that the meaning of art is contingent on social and institutional forces.