Vuagniaux. Alfred. 41 ans, né à Vucheron (Suisse). Cordonnier. Anarchiste. 2/3/94. 1894

Editor: This is a gelatin silver print titled "Vuagniaux. Alfred. 41 ans, né à Vucheron (Suisse). Cordonnier. Anarchiste. 2/3/94" by Alphonse Bertillon, created in 1894. It has a very documentary feel. What stands out to you about this photograph? Curator: The remarkable thing is how Bertillon uses the gelatin silver print medium, historically a tool for bureaucratic control, to portray someone labeled an "anarchiste". Consider the material conditions: silver, gelatin, manufactured and applied with technical precision – all resources shaped by industrial capitalism. Is the "anarchiste," also a cordonier – a shoemaker– perhaps resisting these very forces through his labor, through the production and consumption of goods? Editor: That's fascinating. So, you see the materiality of the photograph itself as inherently tied to the systems the subject might be rebelling against? Curator: Precisely. Photography in this context isn't just about representation. It’s a technology deeply enmeshed with power. Think about the labor involved, the chemical processes. This man's identity, his very being, is translated into a commodity through this industrial process. Does that, in itself, negate the intent or spirit of the subject by framing it within the economic modes of production prevalent during the 19th Century? Editor: I never considered the photograph itself as part of the narrative. Thanks to your perspective, the materiality and creation of the photograph provide context for how to interpret this subject's identity. Curator: The industrial modes behind artistic mediums of production hold so many insights if we consider it deeply enough.