Selle. Louis- Désiré-Honoré. 31 ans, né à Bougival. Cordonnier. Anarchiste. 26/3/94. 1894

Editor: This is "Selle. Louis-Désiré-Honoré," a gelatin silver print photograph by Alphonse Bertillon from 1894. The subject stares directly at the viewer with a stoic expression. I’m curious about the starkness of the image, its almost clinical quality. What strikes you about it? Curator: What interests me is the confluence of labour, law, and photographic technology. Bertillon was standardizing a system – Bertillonage – that sought to classify and control individuals through a series of measurements and observations recorded via gelatin silver prints. Consider the cordonnier, the cobbler, traditionally a craftsman with control over his labour. Here he is reduced to data, his body presented as evidence within a carceral system. Editor: So the photograph isn’t just a portrait but an instrument of control? The ‘handmade’ trade of cobbling contrasted with the mechanically reproduced photograph is compelling. Curator: Exactly. We need to think about how photography, as a relatively new mass production medium, was being deployed to reshape understandings of labour, deviancy, and social order. The photograph, initially seen as objective truth, served to categorize and fix Selle within a certain social stratum. It begs the question: Whose interests were truly being served by this so-called objective record? How was Selle's social identity constructed and consumed through this process? Editor: That's fascinating. I hadn't considered the way photography itself becomes a tool shaping the perception and ultimately, the fate, of the subject. The “objectivity” is a carefully manufactured product. Curator: And remember the anarchistic leanings ascribed to Selle! How are such social designations tied up with materials, and technologies of production and capture? Editor: This makes me see how even what appears to be a simple photograph can reveal complex issues around labour, technology, and social control. Thanks, I see a whole new dimension now! Curator: Indeed, it underscores how artistic processes are deeply intertwined with broader economic and political forces.