Tableau synoptic des traits physionomiques: pour servir a l'étude du "portrait parlé" 1909

Alphonse Bertillon's "Tableau synoptique des traits physionomiques" presents a grid of photographic elements, a study of human features, like a painter mixing colors on a palette. Imagine the artist, Bertillon, carefully arranging these faces, heads, and ears like visual building blocks. The act of capturing and organizing these features becomes a conceptual exploration – an attempt to understand and classify human identity through the lens of the camera. I think he was trying to capture the essence of someone's identity. This work reminds me of the endless possibilities within portraiture, where artists through the ages have sought to capture not just likeness but also something deeper. We are all in conversation with each other. I think that Bertillon was reaching for a kind of truth. What is it about an image that resonates with an idea?