Klein. Louis. 25 ans, né le 8/8/67 à Colmar (Alsace). Employé de commerce. Anarchiste. 11/3/94. 1894

This is Alphonse Bertillon’s 1894 mugshot of Klein, a 25-year-old anarchist from Alsace. Bertillon was a French police officer and biometrics researcher who applied anthropological techniques to law enforcement. In the late 19th century, anxieties about crime and social order were high, fueling the development of systems like Bertillonage. This photograph is part of that system, seeking to fix identity through physical measurements and visual records. But what does it really capture? We see Klein, identified not just by his face but by his profession and political affiliation. The mugshot aesthetic, with its stark frontality, flattens him into a type—the dangerous anarchist. Yet, in his gaze, there’s defiance or perhaps just weariness. Bertillon's method was ultimately replaced by fingerprinting, but this image remains, a potent reminder of how power, identity, and representation intersect. It’s both a historical document and a deeply personal portrait, one that speaks to the complex relationship between the individual and the state.