Miaglia. Bernard. 41 ans, né à Giaglione (Italie). Cordonnier. Anarchiste. 9/3/94. 1894

This is an albumen print made in 1894 by Alphonse Bertillon. At first glance, the composition presents a study in contrasts. The subject, Miaglia Bernard, is centered, yet the gaze is met with an unsettling, blank stare that destabilizes the conventional portrait. The sepia tones and crisp details typical of the albumen process render a scene of calculated precision, but are disrupted by the handwritten annotations that frame the image. These texts, acting as both label and defacement, highlight the subject’s identity as a recorded, categorized individual. Bertillon's technique sought to standardize and control identity, but the medium – with its subtle imperfections and traces of manual intervention – introduces an element of human fallibility, thus questioning the supposed objectivity of the photographic record. It asks us to consider how categorization can both define and dehumanize.