Boutel. Joseph. Louis. 34 ans, né à Bonnay (Eure). Corroyeur. Anarchiste. 5/3/94. 1894

This mugshot by Alphonse Bertillon captures Joseph Louis Boutel, an anarchist, around 1894. The subject's eyes, though somewhat blurred by the photographic technology of the time, look directly out, unyielding. It's a moment laden with social tension. Consider the open neck and knotted scarf. This motif, simple as it seems, echoes across epochs—from the revolutionary sans-culottes, who rejected aristocratic fashion, to the modern-day rebel. The unbuttoned jacket suggests a defiance against convention, a breaking away from societal constraint. The direct gaze, often seen in ancient portraiture, is not merely a representation of the subject but an invitation to a confrontation. It's a subtle, yet powerful challenge to the viewer, urging recognition and perhaps, empathy. Here, the cultural memory of defiance is not just recorded; it's relived. The image becomes a locus where past and present intersect, inviting us to consider the ongoing dance between individual agency and societal control.