Chevalier. Étienne. 36 ans, né à Gémosac (Charente-Inférieure). Forgeron. Anarchiste. 11/3/94. 1894

This mugshot by Alphonse Bertillon was made in France on March 11, 1894, using the artist’s new anthropometric method of photography and measurement, created to identify repeat offenders. Bertillon’s image is more than just a picture; it’s a window into the fraught politics of identity and social control in late 19th-century France. Chevalier, identified here as a 36-year-old blacksmith and anarchist, is not merely a subject, but a personification of the era’s anxieties about class, labor, and political dissent. The photograph seeks to capture something essential about Chevalier, reducing him to a set of measurable characteristics. What does it mean to distill a life into a single image, labeled with profession and political affiliation? It prompts us to consider how society categorizes and judges individuals, and what that feels like to the person being reduced.